Doctor Whooves: Regeneration
by The Imperator 2 you
Summary: After recovering his memories, The Doctor learns the damage The Professor sustained to her TARDIS. However this is not the end of the vengeful Time Lord. She will not let this attack go unpunished, or will she? The Doctor laments for their destinies, for their positions could easily be swapped. He wants to save her, but after 1300 years hunting him down, is it too late to save her?
1. Anasi's Welcome

**/watch?v=TY40DWSDyTo**

Welcome back to the Golden Playhouse boys and girls, it is good to be back here in my seat after dark.

Boy was my vacation fun, but it's even more fun knowing that I am back and ready to tell you all a lovely story.

Oh but where are my manners, some of you are new to the Golden Playhouse, and that warrants an introduction.

I am Anasi, and I am an employee here at the Golden Playhouse. I am glad you all decided to stay after hours.

Now why don't you all just pull up a chair, pick your favorite spot, and while you're at it order a drink, it's on the house!

Did you all miss seeing little old me? I hope you did, because the fun is just getting started.

Now, when we last left off with our Doctor friend, he was just recovering his memory thanks to the help of our mad moon princess Luna. She's embraced her inner madness and now listens to the voices in her head. Yet that is where her story begins, but that's no tonight's story.

Tonight's story takes place just after the events of Luna's Madness, a day or two after he recovers his memories. Things have been hectic for him, having recovered the memory that taught him just how close he was to killing another Time Lord. What happens when you take one angry Time Lord, add a Time Lord bent on revenge, put them both in a confined space like one aging Tardis, and let them go loose?

Well… you know what happens if you saw the memory in Luna's Madness…

I know what you're all saying, it's not his fault that she's trying to kill him.

Well… this is where we find ourselves tonight. You see after all the damage her Tardis suffered… The Professor still has yet to be seen. You'd think that, being so bent on revenge… she'd go after him as soon as possible. Yet things have been awfully quiet since then…

I wonder what's happening boys and girls, where has she gone, and what is she up to?

Well… you know the drill if you know me… Grab a drink… take a load off for a while… let the other boys and girls have time to hop on their merry way over here.

Don't worry; I'll save your seat for you!

We still got time before we begin… and I know none of you want to miss my stories. *chuckles*


	2. Chapter 1 - Summons

Chapter 1 - Summons

=?=

**/watch?v=hvNxnkKHy2U**

"_**Power cells at 7%, systems shutting down left and right…"**_

…

"_**No… no don't die on me now!"**_

…

"_**Maybe if I… transfer power from the agricultural level… and the water purification systems…"**_

…

"_**Only 2 %, that's all you used to run those systems? Dalek trash, it's not enough… it's not enough!"**_

…

"_**No, hang in there please… don't leave me!"**_

…

"_**Please… hang in there… I'll find a way to save you! You've been there for me since the day we met… you've always been there with me!"**_

…

"_**We've been together for too long, been through too much to let this destroy us!"**_

…

"_**No… no don't shut down, PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!"**_

…

"_**Don't… don't leave me alone… not again… I lost my mother… father… brother… my friends… not you too please… don't leave me alone! I've lost everything else I CAN'T LOSE YOU TOO PLEEEEEASE!"**_

…

"_**Good boy… that's my boy… just hang in there… just a little more… one more time… for me…"**_

…

"_**I'll save you… like you saved me… I promise… I'll save you."**_

=The Doctor's PoV, Mid-day=

**/watch?v=I2PlxN96aME**

The Doctor watched the rain pouring outside, knowing that his wife was going to be a pile of wet feathers and anger at the weather ponies. He warned her that it might rain heavily today, and advised her to take a sick day just to get out of the rain. However his wife Derpy, always the one wanting to prove everypony wrong, even if it meant annoying her husband, chose to go to work anyway.

He could imagine the scene in an hour as the storm showed no signs of easing up anytime in the next two hours. He can even now see his wife Derpy, walking through the rain with soggy feathers, having to walk all the way from Canterlot or wherever her route had taken her, unable to complete her assignment because the rain made it impossible for her to fly. Now she was going to lose a day's pay because whatever package she was to deliver would have to wait until tomorrow.

She would storm in, shake herself and try to dry herself off before ranting about how stupid the weather ponies were for making it rain this badly today. Then after she ranted about the weather ponies, he would comment about how it was also her fault for being so silly, thinking that she could fly through a heavy downpour like that even after being forewarned. Afterwards they would laugh and he would cheer her up, and in they would use the rain to enjoy some time together while their daughters stayed in their room, unable to play outside.

However at the moment, he couldn't see himself doing those things because of what was happening right now.

Right now, he was going over that memory Luna had helped him recover. He didn't know how she had recovered it or what she did to do it, but she had gotten the memory for him. What a memory it was, him being fillynapped quite literally in his backyard. Then being dragged through the Everfree Forest, into The Professor's Tardis, where he escaped captivity, located his enemy's plan to create a line of genetically changed Time Lords, and destroyed it. Not only destroy that plan, but absolutely foil any future attempts The Professor could have made by destroying all of her research, research that by her words took centuries to accumulate.

Without that research she could not continue with her plan to create Time Lord Clones, not unless he decided to mate with her, which was way out of the question. However he didn't only just destroy her research, he destroyed, or at the very least severely damaged her Tardis. He could remember the creaking of metal, the mixed smells of vapor and gas that the liquids and acid made, and the heat coming from the fires as they spread unchecked.

That damage was irreversible; at least if the Tardis' self-repair systems were useable, which they clearly weren't or else she would have fixed all the other damages he saw aboard that Tardis. If the damage was irreversible, and if it was true that The Professor's Tardis was all she had left in the galaxy, then he might as well be sent straight to the moon, because he had become a murderer.

"Some hero I am…" He thought as he watched the rain fall in his backyard, watching as his own Tardis' disguise still didn't look right pretending to be perfectly dry with all the mud around it.

Frankly he was surprised by how quiet The Professor had been recently, with her boasts of declaring she would have her revenge and her explosive entrance onto the scene. After boldly fillynapping Princess Celestia from her own palace, then sending the entire city of Canterlot into chaos with her contraptions, finally ending with her single handedly storming and overwhelming Celestia and Luna's palace and it's guards, he wondered why she just didn't go all out Rambo against him right now. Why didn't she just charge at him with a death beam, burning his family's house down and trying to kill him right now with the rain to cover her approach? If her Tardis was dead than why not kill him and try to take his Tardis for her own? What was she doing, what was keeping her quiet all this time?

Why go from a bold, out in the open attack against him, to a stealthy approach like she was planning to assassinate him.

Sure she had ambushed him that one day when he was happily distracted by thoughts of his family and how wonderful the day was, but even before that, why had she been quiet about the attack. She had been very careful, timed it very perfectly, and made absolutely no mistake when she moved in for the attack. She had waited for his wife to leave, and their daughters to go as well so that he was alone in the house. Then she waited for him to make his way to the Tardis, not bothering to try and steal the keys to get inside it, and then ambush him before he could react.

Why did she keep to the shadows, what was she doing out there all alone in the forest, with nothing but dust bunnies, the humming of her Tardis' engine, and cobwebs to keep her company? Even now, if she had nothing left to live for but revenge… why is she leaving him alone?

"Is this heavy rain merely the calm before the thunderstorm?" He asked as the rain fell even harder.

As he asked this, another thought came to him, one that was becoming more and more apparent with each day as he realized how much of a resemblance he saw of himself in her. They had both escaped The Last Great Time War, albeit from different perspectives, he the cause of its end and she the survivor escaping for her life. They both had Tardis' that could travel through time and space, but hers was an older model while his was newer. They both were great scientists, but she was more focused on biology and technology, whereas he had become a jack of all trades.

What if their positions had been swapped? What if he had been the one escaping for his life, while she had been the cause of the Time War's end? What if she had gone to earth and done all the things he had done with all of his companions, while he had been left to wander, trying to figure out what to do as the sole survivor?

What would they have been like had she come to Equestria first, met a stallion and took him as a companion? Would they have fallen in love as he and Derpy had over the course of their adventures, would she have succumbed to Equestrian life as he had, with its peace and serenity? Could she have been a mother in another life had she married that stallion and settled down with him, finally coming to terms with herself and her situation? What about their offspring, would she have had a filly or a foal, would she and her husband have adopted Sparkler or another pony as he and Derpy had? What kind of pony would she have been like had their lives been different?

And he, what would have happened to him if he had wandered as she had for uncounted years, trying to desperately extend his lifetimes so that his species would live on in him. Could he have handled all those years alone, with nothing to talk to, not even the wayward traveler while he experimented on himself to find that miracle solution to the universe's question of can anyone stop death? Would he have survived the tests and trials of isolation inside a closed space for hundreds of years? What about if he had heard of another Time Lord, and learned of the fact that she survived and was female? Would he have chased after her as she had with him?

What about if he learned the truth, of why she was running as he did, could he have seen it in himself to forgive her, whereas she had chosen the opposite? Would he too have hunted her down, using every bit of power and technology at his disposal in his rust bucket of a Tardis to track her down? Would he even now, be threatening her family, plotting her death, not caring that he was going to murder a mother, a wife, and friend of so many ponies?

"She and I are the same…" He whispered to himself as sighed. "We are Time Lords…"

They both were the same when all things were considered; both of their destinies had been altered because of actions he had taken. They could easily swap positions, and there would only be minor differences.

As he looked out the window he saw the sight of a grey Pegasus walking down the road toward their house.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…" He started counting down.

The front door opened and he could hear his wife Derpy even now complaining about how bad a day she had to their daughters.

Knowing it was time to cheer her up; he turned and headed out of their bedroom and into the kitchen. Glad to have something cheerful to think about besides his solitary thoughts.

_**=?=**_

"_**I need more… more time, more power… I need more of it! But where can I get more in this preindustrial age of this planet's history?"**_

…

"_**Of course, the toys! His accursed toys, the key to my salvation is in those toys! I can use their power cells to give me more time!"**_

…

"_**Hang in there my boy; just hang in there for me. Just a little longer…"**_

=Canterlot, Celestia's PoV, just before sundown=

Celestia and her sister were in their bedchamber, getting ready to raise and lower both the sun and moon once again. However before they did Celestia had noticed that her collection of toys that she ordered from The Doctor had been acting strange of late.

A week ago they used to keep still almost all the time, sitting on their small table where she displayed them. Ever since two days ago however she had noticed that her toys, especially Luna's collection, had been acting differently than they used to. She had observed her toys, most notably her Flyby Bird toy, taking to the skies at night when she and her sister slept. She also noticed that her toys weren't in the right order she had put them.

She also noticed that her toys were more active nowadays. She observed their activities out of the corner of her eyes when they figured she wasn't looking. She had seen her miniature toy counterpart with an antennae poking out of its back during the day when they weren't in their room. She had also seen the Basketball Blimp toy floating near the windows constantly while down below in the gardens. She had even seen the HideNSeek Car rolling around downstairs, following her and Luna wherever they went, making sure to stay hidden.

"Sister, are you ready to end the day?" Luna called to her as she examined her set of toys.

"Yes, but before we do have you noticed anything odd about The Doctor's toys as of late?" She asked. "They have been acting very strange lately."

"Pray tell?" Luna asked as she came over to examine the toys with her.

"Well, they have been more active in the past few days than they have ever been over the last few months combined." She said. "They've been following us, looking around the palace, and doing strange things that we don't understand."

"We haven't really noticed any of these things." Luna replied.

"Well I have, and I've noticed now today they have been acting very oddly as well."

"What have the toys been doing today?"

Celestia picked up one of the toys and held it out to Luna. The toy just hung there; limp as if it were a common stuffed doll. "Nothing, they haven't done anything all day." Celestia said, only proving her point by shaking the toy around a little. "I've been trying to get them to do something, anything, even talk. Yet they aren't even doing that! It's as if they were alive yesterday and suddenly devoid of life today. They don't even move their head when we approach or speak to them anymore."

Luna looked at the toy and went to her own collection, taking her freshly repaired Flyby Bird toy and looking at it closely. "Speak to us toy." She declared, yet the bird remained inanimate and motionless. "Your right, they aren't responding to anything. That command usually gets my toy to at least sing, or even chirp."

"Something is wrong with the toys sister, something very wrong with them." Celestia said.

Luna nodded in agreement as she put her toy back among the rest of her collection. "We'll summon The Doctor tomorrow to investigate the problem. Knowing his contraptions it's probably something to do with how they function without magic. Or it could be something as simple as a broken gear or a clipped wire."

"I highly doubt every one of our toys, having never left the palace besides three, could be malfunctioning at the same time." Celestia said as they went to the balcony and began their final duty for the day.

The storm outside was still just as bad as it was earlier, yet that didn't stop Luna from raising the moon as Celestia lowered the sun.

=The Doctor's PoV, Two hours after Sunset=

**/watch?v=mQ9OWMsJBTk**

"Doctor are you alright?" Derpy asked him when he got out of bed, waking her up as he went to the window to stare outside at the storm, now with an added bonus of some thunder.

"No Derpy I'm not alright." He said quietly. "I'm still remembering what happened a few days ago when I was fillynapped by The Professor. I can still remember it as though it had happened yesterday."

"Doctor it wasn't your fault." Derpy said, nervously getting out of bed to stand next to him. "You said so yourself, you weren't in complete control of yourself. You were angry, and you had a right to be! She was trying to use your TNA to make clones of you and her. Nopony should have to let that happen to them."

"I could have avoided what I did to her and her Tardis; all I had to do was destroy her research and experiments." He said, repeating the same words he always used when she raised that point. "But no, I had to do even worse. I had to absolutely destroy her research, her Tardis, and even her. What kind of pony am I Derpy, am I only capable of destroying things?"

He turned to look at his wife, and her 'derped' eyes told him that she was worried about him. "Is destruction so natural to me that it's the only thing that I can do? I can create wonderful toys in days, yet in one second I can destroy a creature's entire lifetime of effort and work. I destroyed something that took centuries to research and develop… centuries Derpy. All it took was me getting angry." He looked back at the storm outside. "Am I a monster Derpy, is that all that hides under this disguise of a pony?"

They stood there for a few minutes in silence, The Doctor trying to figure out what to say and do. He half wished that Luna had failed to get the memory for him. At least then he could have had the mild amnesia to use as an excuse.

"All I can create are little toys… yet I can destroy everything, even pony's dreams and hopes." He told her in a defeated voice.

"Doctor follow me." Derpy said suddenly.

"What?" He said, watching as his wife took his hoof and started pulling him out of their bedroom.

"Just follow me Doctor." She said.

She led him out into the front room and from there to their daughter's bedroom. She creaked the door open just enough so they could both look inside and see a special pony. There lying fast asleep, with her Flyby Bird toy held tightly in her small hooves, with her other toys just littering around her bed, was Dinky. The flash of thunder lit up the room occasionally, only emphasizing the view that Derpy had wanted to show him.

"Do you see what I see in there Doctor?" She whispered quietly.

"You mean Dinky?" He replied.

"Yes Doctor, our little Dinky." She said. "You know who created her? You and me! So don't ever say you can only create toys. You created a life Doctor, a life that I was happy to bring into this world with you! You are not and you never were a monster Doctor, not to me. I certainly would not have married you, or fallen in love with you if you were a monster."

The Doctor nodded in understanding, getting her point the only way she could describe it to him. He glanced at Dinky's face, her mane that she shared with her mother, and watched her sleep soundly through this terrible storm. Then he closed the door and turned to his wife. "Thank you Derpy." He said.

She smiled gently in response and leaned forward to give him a much needed kiss. It wasn't a romantic one, or very passionate, it was simply a kiss to show companionship. He was not the only one in the world that had troubles, and the one thing he had that he never had before was somepony to share those troubles with.

"That's the Doctor I know and love." She said after they separated. "Now let's go to bed, we both have tomorrow off because I'm taking a sick day."

"What about that package that you were supposed to be delivering?" He asked as they made their way.

"Well funny story, it turns out that I got lost with the directions I was given." She said in an embarrassed voice. "You see the package I was sent to deliver wasn't supposed to be taken to Manehattan, it was supposed to be sent here. The package was a bunch of letters addressed to you Doctor, I kinda forgot to tell you when I came home today."

"That's okay Derpy; I'll look at the letters in the morning." He said with a chuckle.

Of course, only his 'derpy' wife would get their own address wrong and start heading out to Manehattan instead of just heading home. Still that was one thing many ponies found annoying about her, the fact that even when she tried her best to do the right thing, she found a way to mess things up. Yet this time when she went the wrong way, the storm had forced her to go home, which just so happened to be the right direction.

As he went to bed with his wife settling in next to him, he briefly wondered what kind of letters could he have received that required a box to contain them?

"Probably just more toy requests." He thought to himself as Derpy placed her head under his. After a few more seconds he began to fall asleep.

=Canterot, Midnight, Flyby Birdy toy #4052-K PoV=

"**Additional toy models currently shut down; additional fifty seven Flyby Bird toys have ceased signal outputs. Priority one mode established, engaging self-preservation mode. All other priorities other than Filly/Foal Protection protocols are now secondary."**

…

"**Scanning owner's bedroom for threats…"**

"**Scanning… Scanning… Scanning…"**

…

"**Scans negative, no threats detected…"**

"**Weather conditions abnormal, accessing logic systems for possible explanation for storm duration lasting nine hours. Accessing… Accessing… Accessing…"**

…

"**Answer found, weather ponies control weather and have determined to keep the storm lasting for abnormal period. Possible explanation for this reason…"**

…

"**Explanations found, two possible answers. Explanation one; weather ponies seek pay rise and are performing this action as an act of protest. Explanation two; plant life requires additional water source to prepare for a summer drought. Explanation one's likelihood placed at sixty two percent likely."**

*Door Creak*

"**Downstairs door opened, reason unknown, accessing family database for possible explanation."**

…

"**Database inconclusive, mother is asleep in the room directly across from this one, father will not be home for another two days because of royal duties as a palace guard. Owner currently asleep next to this unit, therefore no other ponies should be awake at this time. Conclusion, intruder has entered the house, reason as to entry is unknown."**

"**Attempting to ascertain identity of intruder, engaging level two caution systems. Activating life form scanners to ascertain pony subspecies identity…"**

The Flyby bird toy hopped down from its owner's bed and made its way to the door, opening the door with its beak to see into the hallway. It looked down the hallway and saw nopony in the dark.

"**Unable to see in low light, lack of visibility situation determines night vision required, activating night vision eyes."**

The world lit up in green light as it activated the night vision it kept only in reserve during priority one situations.

"**Scans negative, no signs of intruder detected. Investigating downstairs floor for intruder, life form scanners detect no life forms."**

It hopped downstairs two at a time, making sure to keep its scanners active the entire time.

Suddenly a flash of light shined on it.

"**IN…"**

It had no time to shout out that there was an intruder, as its body was drilled open and its power cell ripped out. Its sole source of power and functionality was ripped out in the time span of one one billionth of a second.

=Sunrise, The Doctor's PoV=

**/watch?v=VVNquSarrkk **

"What in the name of Centaurus is going on here?" The Doctor asked as he started reading the twelfth letter in the box his wife had failed to deliver yesterday. "All of my toys in Canterlot are suddenly malfunctioning, all in the time span of forty hours? This makes no sense!"

He threw the next letter away as the morning sun started rising over the horizon, and then he read the next one.

"Dear Doctor Hooves, the WalkNTalk Celestia toy I purchased three weeks ago for my filly's birthday has ceased moving and talking to her. While I understand that you do not have a central place where we can visit to have the toy examined in Ponyville, is there an address you could provide where we may send the toy for… repairs? What in the name of Celestia is going on here?"

He had never used that term before in his life. Normally he didn't invoke Tia's name when he was dumbstruck with what was happening, but he had no other words to describe the situation with.

"What's wrong with your toys Doctor?" Derpy asked as she finished baking them some breakfast muffins.

"I don't know, this shouldn't be happening, they shouldn't just all be malfunctioning at the same time!" He declared as he chucked that letter into the box and opened another one up, reading a similar letter to the last one. "They shouldn't all be malfunctioning at the same time; I made sure of that when designing them. These toys were each made to be self-sustainable over the course of their life time. Their power cells can last ten decades, they run on solar and lunar energy derived from the sun and moon, heck they even have a built in charge detector to let them know if and when it was time for a battery change."

He opened the next letter and read about how a basketball blimp toy had stopped working as well. "By all the laws of time and space, this should not be happening!"

"Do you think the toys could be breaking down or something?" She asked as her crisscrossed eyes looked at the box full of letters yet to be opened. "You did say that sometimes these things happen, even to the best of toys."

"Yes there's a good chance that this COULD happen, but why after all this time are my older models breaking down?" He asked her. "Even my newer models and ones that I just built are breaking down or something. They are also all breaking down in the vicinity of Canterlot, nowhere else!"

At that moment a knock on the door caused them to momentarily be quiet before Derpy went to check the door. Meanwhile he blazed through other letters, all of them repeating the same thing to him. His toys were breaking down for some odd reason.

"Doctor, there's somepony here to see you." Derpy called to him in a nervous voice.

He got up and went to the door to see who had come to visit them.

As he reached the door he realized that the situation was much more serious than he thought it was.

"Good morning Doctor." Hawk said to him in his usual respectful manner whenever he spoke to him and Derpy. "Princess Luna and Celestia request your presence in Canterlot. This letter written by my lady will explain the situation."

"I had a feeling that something was going on." He said as he took the letter and saw Luna's writing. "Even their toys are acting up?"

"I do not have any details to give you sir Doctor, Princess Luna and Celestia would be able to explain things further." Hawk said. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to Canterlot as quickly as I can. My shift officially begins in fifteen minutes and if I'm not back in time, Luna will probably have me scrubbing the royal bathroom as punishment."

"Oh she wouldn't do that would she?" The Doctor asked with a smile.

Hawk did not return the smile as he gave his reply. "The last time I was late for my shift she had me scrubbing the dungeon till it was spotless from top to bottom, without any help, because I was late for my shift by two minutes. Of course that was nine years ago, but it's still something that I swore to never let happen again."

After that he left, taking to the air and heading back toward Canterlot.

The Doctor took the letter and reread it with Derpy looking at it over his shoulder.

"Dear Doctor, we request you presence in Canterlot post haste to figure out the mystery of certain oddities pertaining to your line of toys. The toys we have purchased from you as collector's pieces have been acting oddly as of late. Furthermore the toys, as of prior to last night, have ceased all functionality. Please come as soon as possible. Sincerely, Princess Luna and Princess Celesta."

He looked at his wife and realized that if these toys were all malfunctioning, he would have to fix all of the toys in Canterlot at the same time as determining the cause of the malfunction. This meant only one thing, he and his wife would have to use their only day off together to go to Canterlot to act as toy repair ponies.

Or at least he will, but knowing his wife, Derpy will want to go with him to lend a helping hoof.

"I won't force you to come with me Derpy, it seems like this is going to be a very long day for me." He said with a small smile. "It's your day off you know…"

Derpy smiled and shook her head. "As if I'd let you deal with anything on your own Doctor." She said. "That's what assistants are for aren't they?"

He smiled as he went into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper, while his wife went to prepare her saddlebag and other bags for the trip to Canterlot. He scribbled a message to Sparkler, telling her where he and Derpy were going, saying that she was in charge and to make sure that Dinky didn't stray too far away from the house.

He also told her that they would be gone for at least a day, so she would have to prepare lunch and dinner as well as breakfast for them.

"Ready Doctor?" Derpy asked as she walked out with several empty saddlebags.

"Yup, let's go Derpy, to the Tardis." He declared. "If this problem is serious we will have to bring quite a few tools and other parts for the journey."

"Ugh, my back hurts now for some reason." Derpy groaned as they left the house and headed to the Tardis.


	3. Chapter 2 - Assault

Chapter 2 – Assault

=?=

**/watch?v=a0zOlWBNemA**

"**Alright, I've drained all the energy I got from the toys, please let this work!"**

…

"**Only 6%? What the heck are these toys running on; it took nearly 4% of his remaining power just to transfer that energy!"**

…

"**No don't give up, we can't give up now!"**

…

"**There's got to be something we can do, there's got to be SOMETHING!"**

…

"**Let's see, power transfer rate, energy gain to loss ratio, add that to all the other data I've got…"**

…

"**I need a new power core, it's the only way to save you now… but where the heck am I going to get a sixty trillion metragon power core on this ball of grass?"**

…

"**No I can't use his Tardis' power core; it's not the same as yours! Your core was one I created to keep you running, there's no way your systems will be compatible!"**

…

"**I can't just fashion one from scratch, I don't have the materials to make the casing let alone the rest of it!"**

…

"**What do I do, what do I do! I have to save you, I have to save you!"**

…

"**Those Unicorns… what if I could… somehow tap into… their magic! Maybe if I can tap into it, I could probably then… somehow transfer it… maybe that could sustain you or prolong you until..."**

…

"**Yes… it's the only way I guess."**

"**You did this Doctor; you forced my hand…even if I don't have one. You will pay for what you've done. You will help me save him, or you will watch as the spawn you created, dies for your mistake!"**

=The Doctor's PoV=

**/watch?v=f_ocK9HrJUQ**

"And you're saying they started acting strange starting a few days ago?" The Doctor asked as he examined Celestia's toy collection.

"Yes Doctor, as I said, they never acted this way before then." Celestia said as she watched him pick up the toys one at a time.

Once he had gone through the formalities of showing he and his wife were expected, he was led to the throne room where Celestia and Luna had brought down their toy collections for him to examine. As he and his wife put down the heavy bags of spare parts, tools, and toy models he used to compare and examine for broken or damaged parts, he began looking at the toys one by one.

The first thing he noticed right off the bat was that the toys weren't responding to any commands or other stimuli. If he ever approached or picked up one of the toys, they should have reacted instantly, addressing him as creator when he spoke to them. Yet they were completely motionless, as if they were ordinary dolls. In fact some of them were showing signs of a lack of power.

"Well from the outside they look alright, but let's open them up and see if there's some kind of mechanical problem." He said as he took Celestia's Flyby Bird toy. "Derpy hand me the screwdriver with the number 2 on it."

"Screwdriver!" She piped up, handing him a screwdriver with a large 2 on it.

"Alright, let's see what's inside door number one." He said as he unscrewed the toy's wing joints, before working on its chest. "Well that explains the problem."

"What is it Doctor?" Derpy asked.

"This toy has had its power cell removed." He replied, taking the toy and showing them the empty slot where the small power cell should have been.

"I'm guessing that's important?" Celestia asked as she looked at her toy, clearly not understanding half of what she saw inside it.

"Well of course Tia, you see all of my toys, and I mean all of them, need this power cell to actually run." He said, examining the broken wires that once connected to the power cell and noticing how they twisted outward. "Without their power cells, these little toys can't do anything. They can absorb all the solar and lunar energy they want but without the power cell to store and direct the energy, it's all useless and wasted. They need it to function, it's they're soul source of energy to run all their different functions."

"It's that important Doctor?" Derpy asked.

"Yes Derpy, it is very important to them." He said as he took a spare power cell and slipped it into position, watching as all the wires spark into life. "It would be like you trying to fly without wings, or Celestia trying to use magic without her horn. You need those parts of you to do those things, without them it's like missing a leg and walking all day nonstop. Only with these toys they absolutely need the power cells to work."

"So who would want to take a power cell from one of my toys?" Celestia asked. "Aside from the incident last week, none of mine or Luna's toys has ever left the palace grounds. It was only until a few days ago did they start acting oddly."

"That is indeed the question Tia, you see the answer to who would take your toy's power cells is the same one taking other pony's toy's power cells." He said as he closed the Flyby Bird toy's chest and started working on the next toy. "I received a few hundred letters today from parents complaining about my toys suddenly not working in Canterlot. I highly doubt mechanical failure is the problem; somepony is stealing these power cells. As for why they are stealing them, well I can only guess that the reason is for the energy stored in them."

"How much energy do these power cells contain Doctor?" Celestia asked.

"Not much mind you, because aside from my filly's toys, all of the toys I made run on a very low charge by comparison." He said, seeing a similar lack of a power cell in the Basketball Blimp toy. "This is because most of their functions are basic, nothing too fancy all things considered. However each power cell individually could run a house all on its own if it used the same charging mechanics as my toys do. And if you add up all the toys that are owned by ponies in Canterlot, combine all their power cells together…"

"Somepony must really have a big house to run if they're stealing so many." Derpy replied.

"I doubt that this pony is stealing these power cells to run a mansion Derpy." He replied as he started working on the rest of Celestia's toys, all of which had their power cells stolen. "No I highly doubt that, I doubt that The Professor would be interested in starting a new life here after all things are considered."

"The Profesor, what does she want with toy parts?" Celestia asked.

"Normally nothing, but since these power cells are all compatible with any form of technology, she'd find these little numbers worth the investment in stealing. I specifically designed them so that if I need to replace a toy's battery, any of my power cells will fit and power them equally. It's my solution to the whole battery problem Earth suffered in the twenty-first century. They all run the same way; just insert power cell and toy runs perfectly. I could swap two of your toys power cells right now and there won't be any difference."

"Which begs the question… why is she stealing these power cells?" He asked as he started working on Luna's toys. "What does she gain, what's her angle, why does she need so many power cells? What's she planning to do with them?"

Unable to answer that question, and seeing that she was no longer needed to oversee the restoration of her toy collection, Celestia left the throne room to perform whatever duties she had to. Meanwhile Derpy continued to help him fix the remaining toys by handing him the required tools and power cells. After about ten minutes all the toys were repaired.

"Alright, time to see if our mysterious attacker is who I thought it was Derpy." He said as he held up the WalkNTalk Celestia toy. "Hello there Mini Tia."

The miniature toy Celestia moved its head in recognition of who he was and replied. **"Greetings Creator, how may I help you today?"**

"What were you doing prior to your power cell being stolen?" He asked.

"**At time index 17-09-42, this unit was observing the staircase leading up to my owner's bedchamber."** The toy said automatically. **"This unit was engaged in priority one mode and activities, due to the numerous spontaneous and unknown shutting down of two hundred and fifteen toy models made by Doctor Hooves over the course of a thirty six hour period."**

"Did any other toys belonging to Celestia and Luna enter priority one mode?"

"**Affirmative, at time index 13-42-31, all Celestia and Luna showpiece toys entered Priority One mode. As per protocol dictating priority one mode, self-preservation and protection of owners and immediate friends, family, and other nearby ponies took priority over all other functions. Once engaged in Priority One mode, all of us began engaging in reconnaissance and actively scanning for any and all dangers."**

"What were you scanning for?"

"**Unknown. Prior to this unit losing power there was no evidence or trace of a threat to us or our owners. Due to the unknown nature, as well as the cause to over two hundred toy units shutting down, we engaged in Priority One mode in an attempt to protect ourselves."**

"You say before you shut off, you had no idea if anything was attacking you?" He asked suddenly.

"**Yes creator."**

"Does that mean that prior to shutting off that you were able to identify your attacker?"

"**Yes creator."**

"Display a holographic image of who attacked you prior to your power shutoff moment."

"**Understood, accessing database… accessing time index 18-31-05… displaying last recorded image…"**

She turned her head and cast two beams of light from its eyes, creating a holographic image of a mare about his size. The image was fuzzy, and despite the best representation the toy could give, it clearly did not have the time to record a clear, precise image of its attacker. However it still showed the image of a mare with a somewhat chestnut colored coat, and a very distinct silver mane.

"Is that her Doctor?" Derpy asked as she looked at the fuzzy image before them.

"Yes Derpy, it's her." He whispered as he looked at the spot where her eyes would have been. "She's up to something… but what?"

"Do you think she wants revenge again?" Derpy asked nervously.

"If she did, why is she going after my toys?" He replied.

"Maybe she needs their energy to make some terrible weapon?" Derpy suggested. "You said you damaged her Tardis badly… so maybe she can't use her Tardis now?"

"That does seem logical…" He replied, looking at the blurred image of his foe.

Somewhere deep down, he felt a desire to cry. If only he had handled the situation differently from the start. Maybe then he and she would not be fighting on this peaceful planet.

Gaia, the pony's home planet, was a planet almost devoid of war and conflict. Its very name and nature meant peace throughout the planet. Sure there were bad ponies and bad creatures here, what planet was entirely perfect? Yet out of all the planets he had ever seen, this was the only one that he felt a desire to see unstained and untouched by galactic conflict. If he had to, if there was no choice, he would leave this planet just to make sure the lovely green fields, the peaceful sense one felt when they walked down the dirt roads, and the sense of calm one had there, would never be destroyed.

If there had to be one planet, one single gem in the galaxy that he wanted to preserve, it would be Gaia. He did not want his little filly to live in a world surrounded by the threat of war, murder, disease and everything else horrible. There had to be at least one paradise, at least one, where anybody who wanted to live their life in peace could go and be welcomed.

"Yet here I am, bringing the shadow of war and pain to these peaceful ponies." He whispered to himself.

Why does trouble have to follow him wherever he goes? This was his last thought as he stared at the image of The Professor.

=Dinky's PoV=

"Big sister when are mommy and daddy come back?" Dinky asked her big sister Sparkler as she tried making dinner for them.

"They said some time tomorrow at latest." She said, checking the cook book next to her as she measured the exact amount of carrots and tomatoes required to go into the soup she was making. "You're not getting out of eating my dinner Dinky, so don't even try."

"But I hate soup…" Dinky said, sticking her tongue out and making a 'yuck' face.

"Yea well mom and dad told me to make us lunch and dinner, so today its tomato and carrot soup." She said with a smirk as she put the carrots on a cutting board. "Now where's that knife…"

Dinky turned to look at the little wooden box where their mother stored the knives when they weren't being used, and decided to get the knife for her sister herself. _–I bet Sparkler will be impressed if I get the knife for her with my magic!- _She thought cheerfully. _–Big sis is always good at using magic; she showed me how to levitate a big rubber ball for practice!-_

Concentrating as hard as she could, using all the lessons she learned at school about moving and levitating objects with magic, she watched as the knife had a silver glow around it. Then she watched it wiggle out and started levitating toward her sister because of her magic. As she watched the knife wiggle out another glow surrounded the knife, pink instead of her silver, and for a tiny moment she felt the knife resisting her. But with just one thought about the knife floating to her sister, the pink glow vanished and the knife resumed its path.

Dinky smiled as she watched the knife float over to her sister, already having imagined her impressed face as she watched her little sister using everything she taught her.

There was just one problem; her big sister wasn't smiling as she took several deep breaths. In fact Sparkler looked the exact opposite of the smiling big sister that she had imagined; she looked quite shocked, and slightly angry.

=Sparkler's PoV=

**/watch?v=hCfmqdpH2qs**

Sparkler could feel whenever her sister started to use magic, it was always something that Unicorns could do, yet for her it was always just her cue to look at something, anything else. It was embarrassing, and always had been for her, having to watch other unicorns doing stuff with their magic that she couldn't do because of how pathetic she was at it. It was even more embarrassing watching little filly's and foals do things that she, an almost full grown Unicorn, couldn't possibly do. However when she felt that her sister was using magic, she instantly turned to see what she was doing. She had a brief moment to register her little sister looking at the cutting knives, and saw one of them starting to glow and move, before her protective big sister instincts kicked in.

_-Oh no DINKY, she might not be able to control that knife!-_ She thought so fast that her eyes blinking couldn't have kept up.

Dinky was better at magic, she knew that. But Dinky still lacked the one thing that she, Sparkler, had. That was experience. Sure Sparkler had never used a teleportation spell, or a lock picking spell, or even mastered basic levitation. But she still had more experience in knowing how to direct her magic, and most definitely had more knowledge about how magic worked and how she could control it. Dinky had barely begun to learn how to direct her magic, if she wasn't careful she could lose control over that knife, and this knowledge that raced through her made Sparkler pour everything she had at trying to get that knife before Dinky could.

Instantly she summoned all the power she had with magic, and directed it at the knife, trying to gain control over it, having no time to say a levitation spell in her mind. Right now all she could do was pray to Celestia that she could at least get control over the knife before it shifted out of the box and possibly keep it away from her.

She wasn't very good at using magic, it was always her weakness, and the most she could do with it was hold an object in the air for minutes at a time. Yet even that would take its toll on her, it took all her concentration just to do something as simple as that. However that wasn't going to stop her, if she had to she concentrated hard enough, she could at the very least make that knife move onto the counter.

She watched as her magic momentarily started fighting for control over the knife, but a second later she felt her magic just swept aside as Dinky's magic overpowered hers, regaining full control over it.

Sparkler tried to summon her magic again, trying to use all her might to make it work, but she was already too drained to try again. All she could do was watch helplessly as the knife… gently floated out of the wooden box and over to where Sparkler was.

Sparkler continued to watch as the knife floated past her and landed on the cutting board. After a few seconds of shock that her sister had overpowered her magic so easily, she felt slightly angry.

Unfortunately anger was always the more dominant emotion she felt, especially recently, when it came to her sister's safety. So it was no surprise that her next words were said in anger.

"What were you thinking Dinky?" She said ignoring her sister's confused face.

"What's wrong, I thought you needed the knife?" Dinky asked nervously.

"I could have gotten it without your help, but that's not the point, why did you do that?" She said. "You could have hurt yourself or me doing that. Don't ever use magic on dangerous objects like that!"

"But… I thought…" Dinky tried to say, but Sparkler wasn't done talking yet.

"You're not good enough at magic to just move sharp knives around; you need more practice to do something like that." Sparkler continued, still ignoring her sister's now scared expression. "You could have hurt yourself Dinky, and then what would have happened? How do you think mom and dad would have reacted if you cut yourself? We're just lucky you didn't hurt anypony, especially yourself."

It was as Dinky looked at her at that moment, and Sparkler saw a tear run down her eyes, that she knew she had gone too far. She watched her little sister turn and walk into the living room; head drooped in shame and sorrow, without saying another word to her.

_-Way to go Sparkler, Dinky wasn't doing anything bad and now look at what you've done!-_ She thought to herself as the anger subsided, replaced by self-bitterness. _–All your sister wanted to do was show you how good she was and lend a helping hoof, and what does her big sister whom she admires and respects, and looks up to for inspiration do? Yell and put her down, you are doing a wonderful job at being a Big Sister.-_

Unable to face her little sister after yelling at her, Sparkler just went back to making the soup. Now she wished she had controlled her anger a little better. At least before she yelled she had Dinky to keep her company, making faces and giggling whenever she watched her juggle apples with magic for her amusement. Now however she had nopony to distract her with little shenanigans, so she had to concentrate on the soup, which wasn't that hard to make, so she could concentrate on other things, like apologizing to her little sister.

It also gave her time to realize something else. _–Dinky is exceptionally strong with magic… I never realized it before.-_ Sparkler thought as she remembered what happened between both of their magic spells. _–Sure she's an absolute novice and has no idea how to control her magic well, but even without trying she was able to get that knife to do exactly what she wanted. She probably only imagined the knife floating over to me… and it did exactly what she wanted it to do.-_

Then she remembered how easily Dinky's magic swept aside her spell, without any effort or extra force needed. _–If she can do that, at two years old without any proper training and experience… I can only imagine how strong she'll be when she gets older. She might even be better than Twilight, heck if she's so strong now she might even get stronger than Princess Celestia and Luna combined!-_

"Somepony's are always the lucky ones…" She whispered as she tossed the last of the carrots into the soup. "What I would give for that kind of talent… that kind of gift…"

Once again her frustration at being so weak with magic rose up, and this time she had to fight with it to keep her temper in check. "My little sister didn't ask to be born as a Unicorn, it's just who she is." She said to herself. "Besides, even if I'm terrible at magic, I can still be an inspiration to Dinky! I just need to find a way… that's what big sisters are for… to be inspirations for their siblings…"

She worked with the soup until it was time to just let it sit and simmer. Then with nothing else to do she walked over to the fridge to find some snack to eat. When she walked over to the fridge, she found the proof that she was indeed an inspiration for Dinky, as well as a way to apologize to her.

It was a doodle drawing of herself, drawn by her little sister. It showed a crayon portrayal of Sparkler using magic to… juggle giant trees and apples. Off to the side was a small crayon Dinky watching in awe at her big sister's show. Underneath the two ponies was a crayon description of what Dinky wanted to do in the future.

"**I want to be good at magic just like big sis!"**

The picture made Sparkler smile as she wiped away a tear. Even though Dinky was getting better than her big sister, she still saw her as an inspiration, somepony to look up to.

"Well, time to go and say I'm sorry…" She whispered as she checked the soup to make sure it would be alright without her, before heading into the front room and toward their bedroom.

=Dinky's PoV=

Dinky walked into hers and her sister's bedroom and watched her toys all greet her as they always did.

"**Hello Dinky."** Her Celestia toy said cheerfully.

"Hello Celestia." Dinky replied, going over to her bed and laid down on it, not feeling like playing with her toys now.

"**What's wrong Dinky?"** The Celestia toy asked, jumping up onto the bed with her. **"Normally you're more cheerful than this. Did something bad happen?"**

Dinky liked how her toys talked more to her now than they did before, even Mr. TomTom had more to say now, all thanks to her dad fixing her toys after that scary mare broke them all. Her Boopyball and Sneaker, her HideNSeek Car toy, didn't talk like her Celestia and Mr. TomTom though. When he had fixed all her toys she had never been happier to have her favorite toys back. Yet right now she was so miserable, that she just didn't want to play now.

"No…" Dinky lied.

"**Well that doesn't sound right, if nothing bad happened you should be feeling happy!" **Her toy said. **"Tell us Dinky, what's wrong? You can tell us, we're your toys! We'll always listen to you."**

Dinky didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then when she felt some courage she rolled over and looked at her Celestia toy. Her toys sounded sad, and she didn't want to make her toys sad, especially when they were trying to make her happy. If they felt that she was unhappy because of them, then they would be unhappy.

"Big sister yelled at me just now…" Dinky finally said, sounding even sadder when she said it out loud.

"**She did, why would she do that?"** Celestia said in surprise. **"Your sister doesn't seem like a mean pony, why would she yell at you for no reason?"**

"I used magic to move the cutting knife she was looking for…" Dinky said, wishing she had not moved it in the first place. "She yelled at me, saying I could have hurt myself…"

"**Dinky, knives are very dangerous." **The toy replied. **"She's right to tell you so; you could have really hurt yourself if you weren't careful. Then what would your parents have done to Sparkler if you were hurt while she was watching you?"**

"But I just wanted to help her…" Dinky said sheepishly.

"**You did Dinky, but you need to be careful when moving sharp objects." **Her toy said. **"Sparkler loves you, and wants you to be safe. I'm sure she only yelled at you because she just wanted to let you know how worried she was about you."**

"But she seemed really mad at me!" Dinky said. "She was really mad; she said things like I'm not good at magic!"

"**Dinky you aren't good at magic… not yet."** Her toy said. **"Sparkler knows that you aren't experienced with magic, that's why she does all the dangerous stuff by herself, so that you don't get hurt. She's not really mad at you… she's mad at herself for not keeping a closer eye on you."**

Dinky thought about this for a few minutes, then watched as her toy jumped off the bed as the bedroom door opened up.

"Uh… sis?" Sparkler whispered.

Dinky only looked up for a moment to see Sparkler's worried face, before she put her head down and stared at the pillows.

"Dinky don't do that to me… look at me… please?" Sparkler said as she came closer. "Please look at me sister?"

She looked up into Sparkler's worried face, not sure what her sister was going to do. "Yes sister?"

Sparkler sighed in relief as she sat on Dinky's small bed, all of her toys off to the side and watching them. "Sis, I'm sorry about earlier." She said, patting Dinky on her head with one hoof. "I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier, I was just really worried about you. You're my little sister and whenever you do something like…"

Sparkler looked away before continuing. "What I'm trying to say is if anything happened to you, especially when I'm in charge of you… then I don't know what I'd do." She said. "After all the crazy things that have happened over the last two weeks, I'm just always on the lookout for dangers to you. That's why I yelled at you earlier, I was so worried that you might hurt yourself that I overreacted. But I shouldn't have, you were just trying to help me, but all I did was yell and make you feel terrible."

Dinky looked at her big sister telling her how sorry she was, and no longer felt afraid of her or sad at herself. "Do you think you can forgive your big sister for being… just a little protective of you?"

Dinky smiled and snuggled up next to her big sister. "Of course sis!" She said happily. "Promise you won't tell mommy and daddy I touched the knives?"

Sparkler gave her a nod, and then smirked. "By the way… you know what time it is?" She said with a grin.

"Dinner time?" Dinky answered hopefully, she was getting hungry.

"No… it's time for… TICKLE THE DINKY!" She yelled and started tickling Dinky's tummy.

"GEHAHAHAHA!" Dinky cried as her big sister tickled her furiously.

Then her toys came to her rescue, as her Boopyball tossed its rubber ball at Sparkler's head, making her stop for a moment.

Her toys all started giggling, or at least Mr. TomTom and Celestia did. "SISTER ATTACK!" Dinky cried, jumping onto Sparkler's back and knocking her to the floor.

"Oh no, I'm being attacked!" Sparkler said in mock desperation. "Somepony save me, it's the attack of the killer filly! Ahhhhh!"

"Sister Pile!" Dinky cried, and at her command all her toys ran and started climbing onto Sparkler as well.

"Oh no whatever will I do?" Sparkler said, pretending to be hurt. "Ahhh I can't go ooooon! Gaaah oooh… bleeeeh…"

They continued to play together for another ten minutes, before the smell of the soup finally finishing stopped them. They had soup and played together for a few hours, before it was time for bed and Dinky curled up in bed with her Sparkler.

=Mr. TomTom's PoV=

Mr. TomTom watched as Dinky went to bed, he being held in her hooves while she was held in Sparkler's hooves. Once she was asleep, he sent a signal to the other toys that she was a sleep, and it was time for them to enter sleep mode.

Instantly all of them turned off, leaving only their emergency signals active in case of emergency.

**(Engaging in active scanning mode. Beginning scans for unknown metallic signatures, energy signatures and life forms.)**

…

…

…

**(Scans negative, resume scanning.)**

For three hours Mr. TomTom scanned, making sure that the house would be safe at night. It was something his creator had programmed into them three days ago. They had been doing this for three days, keeping a constant signal scanning.

The fourth hour into the scan for this night was interrupted as he scanned a strange energy signature.

**(Unknown energy signature detected 9.4 feet west of house.)** He declared, waking up the other toys from sleep mode. **(Look outside and report sighting.)**

Celestia and Boopyball were the first to the window, Boopyball using it's basket to lift Celestia into the air so she could get a better look. **"Strange pony sighted just outside of house range. Unknown reason as to why they are in the vicinity of the house."**

**-Beeb Boop Beep Bop-** Boopyball declared.

**(Scans indicate energy source, unable to identify. Identify signature Celestia.)**

"**Unknown signature is coming from unknown metallic ball now rolling toward house. Unable to identify…"**

**(Energy signature spiking, signature identified as…)**

-BZZZZZZZT-

=Sparkler's PoV=

Sparkler felt a tingling sensation run through her body and heard something land heavily on the floor, causing her to wake up. "What was that?" She whispered, giving a loud yawn.

Moments later Dinky woke up with a yawn as well. "What's the matter sister?"

"I don't know, I thought I heard and felt something." Sparkler said, looking around the room.

She saw her sister's toys lumped together near the window, and saw the moon shining brightly outside. But other than that there wasn't anything else.

"Probably just my imagination…" She whispered to herself.

She put her head back down on the bed and pulled Dinky closer to her. Whatever that noise was it was probably just her imagination.

A good minute passed before another sound woke them up, and this time there was no denying that there was something wrong.

-CRASH!-

**/watch?v=pxqD323SgpA**

Sparkler heard the sound of their front door being broken down. Now she was wide awake and instantly felt her protective big sister instincts kick in.

"What was that?" Dinky asked nervously, watching Sparkler jump up and put her ear to the door.

"Stay quiet Dinky…" She whispered. "Dinky stay in here and stay quiet."

Very carefully Sparkler opened the door and peaked out into the living room; through the small crack she saw the destroyed remains of her family's front door. Carefully she walked out into the living room, closing the door behind her.

Their living room was an absolute mess of broken wood and damaged furniture. All that was left of the door were a few scattered pieces and fragments, everything else was a mess. The couch was pushed off to the side, books were thrown here and there, and the shelf was knocked over.

She looked at where the door had been and saw nopony there, looking in the kitchen she saw nothing either. At the angle she was standing she saw that her parent's room was still closed as well.

Nervously Sparkler advanced one slow step at a time toward the front door. Her heartbeat increased as she got closer to the door, still seeing nopony nearby. She reached the door and, leaning forward very cautiously, looked outside and around.

Nothing was outside, and the only sound she heard were the chirping of crickets.

_-What the…-_ Sparkler thought, taking a gulp of nervousness. _–There's nothing out here…-_

It was at that moment when Sparkler realized that something was wrong, that she remembered her father's Tardis sitting in their backyard. It was the safest place in all of Equestria, and right now Sparkler's big sister instincts were telling her to get Dinky, get her toy to open up that Tardis' door, and wait until morning when her parents came back.

_-Okay, first thing's first, get your little sister and her toy and get over to that tree!-_ She thought quickly, turning to head back to their room. _–We can wait till mom and dad get home to figure out what happened. Right now, all that matters is you and Dinky are safe and sound.-_

There was only one problem; there was another pony inside the house with her and Dinky.

"Hello there Sparkler..." A menacing voice whispered, before she felt her stomach get pummeled by a hoof.

Sparkler gasped as the air was knocked out of her lungs! Then she was picked up and thrown into the couch, all without seeing who her attacker was.

"Don't bother getting up, you can't escape now." That voice said.

After the stars stopped spinning in front of Sparkler's eyes, she finally blinked and cleared her vision enough to see who her attacker was. It was The Professor, a very angry and very messy looking Professor. Her mane was packed full of dirt, it was falling out of her mane as Sparkler watched. Her coat had pieces of wood, burn marks, and a host of other things Sparkler didn't recognize stuck to it.

Yet that wasn't what was scaring Sparkler right now, it was what she was staring into the scared her most. The look in those orange, mad eyes was what was terrifying Sparkle right now. She stared into those angry eyes and she knew that she had to be very careful with what she did and say.

The Professor was on a hair trigger, she was clearly holding onto her sanity with the last remaining thread she was still gripping it with. One wrong move, one wrongly said word, and she would snap.

"Good girl…" She whispered, as a mechanical something stretched out and pointed an object that Sparkler had only seen once before. "Do not do anything I do not tell you to… this is a Pfeifer-Zeliska .600, the most powerful handgun ever made by Humanity at the time I left. One bullet… and your brains… will be the newest decoration… of that wall behind you…"

With a cluck of her tongue the mechanical attachment she had strapped to her pulled the gun's lever back, making it click into a ready position. "Now… tell me… where is that spawn of your father's?"

Sparkler kept silent, knowing that her silence was the only thing that would save Dinky now. She only hoped that her little sister would not come out at the sound of this mare talking.

"I know she's here, now tell me where she is…" The Professor said, her left eye twitching. "Get here out here… now…"

Sparkler only shook her head slightly, knowing that her sister's life was on the line.

"Fine… you don't want to call her… we can play that game…" She smirked. "GET OUT HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT, OR YOUR SISTER GETS HER BRAINS BLOWN OUT!"

"Don't do it Dinky, just stay…" Sparkler tried to say, but instantly The Professor kicked her with one hoof, shutting her up.

"YOU HAVE TO THE COUNT OF THREE TO COME OUT!" She yelled again, this time pointing the gun even closer to Sparkler's head. "ONE…"

A moment of silence passed.

"TWO!"

Another moment and Sparkler watched as the gun's chamber rotated, just like the one she saw in her father's Tardis did, right before it fired.

"THR…"

-Creeeeek-

Sparkler watched in horror as her bedroom door opened, and Dinky walked out, looking at the mare with terrified eyes. In her hooves her toy Mr. TomTom hung limply.

"Good girl…" The Professor said, still pointing the gun at Sparkler. "Now here is how things… are going to work… the three of us are going to go for a little stroll. Do what I say and neither of you get hurt, okay?"

Dinky nodded nervously, clutching her toy closer.

"Good… now drop the toy, it's useless to you now." She said. "I've already deactivated the toys with an EMP device. They won't ever work again; I've shut off and overloaded their electrical systems. They are about as 'lively' as stone statues. Where we are going, that toy will be worthless, and it will slow us down if you can't walk on all fours."

Dinky shivered as she held her Flyby Bird toy even tighter, looking at the mare as though she wished she were invisible.

"DROP IT!" The Professor roared suddenly.

In fear Dinky dropped her toy.

"Good… now you…" She turned to Sparkler. "Get up… and with your sister… start by walking through that door. If you go any other direction… then what I tell you… your sister takes a bullet… and if I see so match as a tiny glow from one of your horns… bang. Am I making myself clear?"

Sparkle nodded and slowly, under the very close eye of The Professor, walked over to her sister and took her hoof. "Come on Dinky… stay close to me…" She whispered as comfortingly as possible, knowing that her sister was terrified.

Dinky nodded and stayed close to her as they walked through the wreckage of the front door. They were shortly followed by The Professor, right after she took a strange object and tossed it onto the floor.

"Now… head that way…" She whispered, pointing with one hoof in the direction of where the Everfree forest was. "Stay quiet… and don't shout… or else… am I making myself clear?"

Sparkler nodded and led the way, Dinky walking alongside her as closely as she could.

The toys had been their greatest defense last time, the only thing standing between Dinky and The Professor. Without those toys to protect them, Sparkler's only hope to keep The Professor from hurting her sister was to simply obey her instructions. Yet as they walked through the night, another worry started working its way into Sparkler's heart.

Dinky was a young, not even 3 year old filly. She had never walked such a distance as from their house to where The Professor's Tardis had been. They didn't even know how deep they would have to go into the forest, the last time they had been transported there. Also, the last time she had some idea of where that Tardis was, it was at least two miles away from where her father's Tardis had dropped them off.

This meant Dinky might be slow because she would get tired… and if The Professor felt that she was slowing them down…

She didn't want to think about it…

_-Mom… dad… where are you when we need you?-_ She thought desperately as they continued to walk at night, toward the worst place in the whole of Equestria right now.


	4. Chapter 3 - Desperation

Chapter 3 – Desperation

=The Doctor's PoV=

**/watch?v=gDdsELRawUo**

The Doctor yawned deeply as he put his tool bag down next to the guest room's door. "Two hundred and fifty nine toys fixed in one day Derpy, that toy was not exaggerating the number." He said to his wife.

All day long he was walking around with a cart that Celestia and Luna had loaned him so that he could lug around all of the spare parts to repair the toys around Canterlot. Meanwhile little flyers had been distributed to let all ponies in Canterlot know that he was there to repair the toys. Without fail he was swarmed left and right by ponies lining up to get him to fix their toys.

Most of the toys, as he had guessed, lost their power cells and ceased functioning. A few showed signs of damage, but other than a bent wing or broken leg, they weren't unfixable.

The cart was useful to carry all the pieces and other parts necessary to fix the toys; it also served its purpose to keep how the toys worked hidden from their owners. Whenever a toy was brought to him that needed work, he would take it to the cart, and with some fancy hoof work and some blinds, he quickly replaced the missing power cell without the toy's owner ever seeing.

Quite a few fillies and foals were grateful to him for repairing their toys, and nearly all of their parents thanked him. The toys themselves seemed glad to be working again, but each one without exception returned to priority one mode the moment they came back online.

All in all the whole day was quite a long one, and since it was almost midnight by the time he finished the last toy, Celestia and Luna allowed him to remain at the palace for the night. They gave them a room in the guest quarters, and offered them access to the kitchens until they were ready to leave in the morning.

"Glad we finished it all in one day Doctor." Derpy said with a yawn as well. "I don't want to have to do that again."

The Doctor nodded in agreement, as much as he enjoyed making toys, having to repair hundreds of them in one day was a huge chore.

He still had no idea about what The Professor wanted with all of those power cells, but that didn't mean he could ignore just how many she had stolen over a period of two to three days. No doubt her ability to steal so many was thanks to her use of the Mind over Matter technique. His toys were not built for combat, and certainly not designed to take on a Time Lord of her caliber.

At most they could alert their owners, and probably stall her for a second, but in the end they were just not designed to protect their owners from her.

He was just lucky that she was only interested in the toys power cells, and not the toy's owners.

After getting into bed he and Derpy fell fast asleep for a good three hours. However The Doctor was woken up by a sudden wave of fear after that. He woke up sleepily, causing his wife to wake up as well.

"What's wrong Doctor?"Derpy asked, blinking her eyes as she looked at him.

"I don't know…" He whispered. "I just felt a sudden wave of fear… like something bad just happened.

The wave of fear had vanished just as easily as it came to him. He got up and checked outside, but all was quiet as he saw the night guard walking around outside. He even saw Luna's personal night guard, Owl circling the Princesses tower.

"Well let's go back to sleep Doctor, we have to wake up in a few hours to go home." She said.

"Yea… it's probably my imagination anyway." He said to himself as he went back to bed.

It wasn't just his imagination, something bad happened of that he was sure. However without his sonic screwdriver he couldn't summon his Tardis, and he was not going to ask his wife to fly home in the dead of night when she was exhausted just to check up on their daughters. It would have to wait until morning.

"I just hope it is just my imagination…" He said, closing his eyes and going back to sleep.

As he fell asleep, the wave of fear returned and became constant, and for some reason he found himself asking for his mother and father. Why that was however, he couldn't understand.

=Mr. TomTom's PoV=

**/watch?v=OJoqLuNDxxA**

…

…

…

**(Systems rebooting… backup power core activating...)**

Five minutes later Mr. TomTom's backup power cell activated and transferred enough energy into his circuits to start channeling energy into all primary outlets.

**(Power transfer systems online… motor control centers active… restoring all higher tier systems now… activating all minor systems now… optical visual sensory nodes active…)**

He opened his eyes, but it would still take his body another four minutes to return to normal functions. However his eyes were able to register that he was no longer inside his owner's bedroom.

**(Unknown area… attempting to ascertain location based on current data…)**

He rotated his head around and took in all major details, including a couch that had been shoved to one side, several books lying on the ground, and broken pieces of wood on the ground.

**(Comparing data to database… location confirmed, this is the living room of the Hooves family house… attempting to contact Dinky's toys…)**

He sent out the signal to his fellow toys, and instantly he started receiving signals from all three of them. Celestia and Boopyball were both alright, although they were currently tangled up together and having difficulty getting separated. Mr. Wheely was perfectly fine as well, although he reported that all three of them were currently still attempting to restore power to their primary power cells.

**(Power cell has been temporarily compromised by EMP Device… attempting to redirect power from emergency power cell to restore normal energy flow… attempt successful, power cell at .05% energy status… attempting to channel lunar energy to restore normal power flow systems…)**

Using his emergency power cell, he used his energy to make his motor controls push him into the moonlight shining through the broken door. Once he was in the moonlight his power cells began to work again.

**(All systems returning to normal conditions… proceeding to Dinky's room to ascertain current situation status.)**

The moonlight had restored Mr. TomTom's primary power source, however it would take several hours of absorbing moonlight energy before the power cell would be fully charged. Until then he would be diverting 20% to his power cell, and using the other 80% to run his motor functions and more importantly, his filly protection tools.

He entered through the open door of Dinky's bedroom to see Celestia, Boopyball, and Mr. Wheely already waiting for him on the other side.

"**There is no sign of Dinky Mr. TomTom; visual signs indicate that current time is approximately one hour after EMP occurred."** Celestia said. **"We must enter priority one mode and begin attempting to locate Dinky. We must obey filly protection protocols."**

**(Agreed, enter priority one mode; all other priorities excluding protection of owner and immediate family and/or friends are now secondary next to locating Dinky and Sparkler.)**

**-Beep Boop Beep?- **Boopyball asked.

"**Negative, the creator is currently in Canterlot according to database knowledge attained from earlier."** Celestia said, pointing with a damaged hoof toward the kitchen. **"He will not return until tomorrow at earliest. We must locate and protect Dinky ourselves."**

**(Dinky is not located inside the house, information observed in the living room indicates a fight of some kind. The lack of any blood indicates that Sparkler and Dinky were not caused serious injury. All signs point to abduction of some kind, the most likely culprit is the pony identified as The Professor.)**

**-Vroom Voom voom Vroom!-** Wheely said, using his rolling gyroscope balls to speak.

=Celestia Toy's PoV=

"**We must attempt a rescue, Dinky is in danger, filly protection protocols dictate that we locate and protect Dinky above all other priorities."**

**(Engage in condition Red status, all filly protection tools are now allowed unrestricted use.)**

A moment later they accessed the restricted parts of their programs, specifically the ones dealing with their filly protection tools, and activated them.

**-Beep Boop, Beep Boop, Beep Beep Boop?-**

**-Vroom Voom Voom Vroom Voom.-**

**(Affirmative, we must locate Dinky first. Priority one mode and filly protection protocol dictates that we first locate Dinky and Sparkler.)**

**-Beep… Boop Beep?-**

**(Negative, Dinky left no DNA that we can use to locate her with in the living room. There are no blood stains or samples of missing hair to use.)**

"**We can locate and track Dinky using the DNA Tracking device installed in Mr. Wheely"** Celestia said, to which Mr. Wheely opened its back and deployed the DNA tracker. **"Mr. Wheely can still trace her using the trace amounts of DNA left in her hoofprints. As long as the DNA is not over four hours old, Mr. Wheely can still track it."**

**-Vroom Vroom!-**

**(Then begin tracking Mr. Wheely, we will follow you at maximum speed.)**

Mr. TomTom watched as Wheely rolled toward him with Boopyball floating behind. Celestia however seemed to be having difficulty walking as her front left leg limped every time it moved.

**(Celestia has taken damage that was not reported?)**

Celestia looked at her leg before nodding. **"Boopyball landed on top of me when we fell from the windowsill." **She said. **"I sustained minor damage to my leg. It is not serious but I cannot follow efficiently with my damaged hoof; my limbs will cause my movement speed to be slowed down by fifteen percent. Furthermore I have suffered minor damage to my Filly Protection tools due to EMP device's effect. I cannot activate my high beam light bulbs."**

**(Beeeeep… Boop Beep?)**

"**Negative, it is not your fault Boopyball, we did not know the object was an EMP device until I activated."**

**-Vrooom?-**

"**Negative, we must not slow down! If we slow down we may lose Dinky's Trail!"**

**-Vroom Voom?-**

"**I am not sure if I can maintain that speed for an extended period of time… increased exposure might further the damage of my leg…"**

**(Celestia toy should stay behind to inform creator of situation, assuming we do not return in time with Dinky.)** He declared. **(Your usefulness is also minimal without your filly protection tools. As you stated as well, we cannot risk losing Dinky's trail. This logic suggests that you remain behind and act as a backup, in case we cannot reach Dinky in time.)**

Celestia imitated sadness for a moment before it nodded in agreement. **"Affirmative, I will remain behind and act as a backup."**

With that declaration Mr. Wheely activated the DNA scanner and Boopyball deployed it's propeller into overdrive so that it could keep up with the rolling toy. Mr. Wheely rolled out into the living room and started following Dinky's DNA trail, with Mr. TomTom and Boopyball following behind in the air. Meanwhile Celestia limped quickly after her fellow toys and only went as far as the doorway before she stopped, knowing she would never be able to keep up with the other three.

She had wanted to go with the other three toys, not because she could be useful, but because her programming demanded that she do all she could to rescue her owner.

This level of programming and intelligence only existed to her in condition red and priority one mode. So she was using it to the fullest. However the only thing she felt right now, was shame and sadness. There should have been four toys leaving the Hooves' family house to rescue Dinky. Yet only three of them had gone on the rescue mission.

"**I… feel… useless…"** Celestia said to nopony, mimicking the action a pony would take if they felt useless. **"All… because my hoof is damaged… restricting my movement speed… by fifteen percent"**

=Sparkler's PoV=

"I didn't tell you to slow down, keep moving!" The Professor said as Sparkler slowed down so her little sister could keep up with her.

"Please give us a minute to rest…" Sparkler whispered, pretending to be exhausted. "Dinky and I aren't used to traveling this long… especially at night… we're just very tired…"

In truth Sparkler was half right; she and Dinky were not used to traveling this late at night. They had only ever walked so far one time this late after sunset. That time she had decided to act on Dinky's instinct that their parents needed their help in some way. However back then Sparkler had her mother's filly carry bag so that she could carry Dinky for the trip, as well as their snacks, this time she did not have that luxury.

Sparkler was used to long travels, being both an older pony because of all the exercise she had growing up, thanks to running errands for all the younger ponies in the orphanage she had grown up in. She wasn't too tired, but she had to pretend for her little sister's sake.

While Dinky was still a very young pony, and even though she was starting to outgrow the filly carry bag that their mother used to carry her in when she was smaller, she still wasn't used to traveling such great distances. This was also of course, without the threat of being killed by a mad Time Lord that was older than the Princess's had been alive.

Dinky herself was trying her best to keep up, but it was clear that after one hour of walking she was extremely tired. Her steps were becoming shorter, and she was breathing very hard, and every time she tried to slow down The Professor yelled at them to move faster, pointing the gun at Dinky each time she did. She only started yelling once they entered the Everfree Forest, and once they were well away from any nearby ears.

"I told you both, to keep moving!" The Professor snarled angrily. "We still have a long way to go, so walk! For a species that runs around on four legs every day, I figured you'd have more endurance."

"Just because we run… on four hooves doesn't mean… we don't get tired!" Sparkler said, pretending to gasp for breath. "Please just let us rest… for a few minutes… that's all I'm asking for…"

The Professor rolled her eyes before she stopped walking. "Fine, we'll take a ten minute rest, but NO LONGER!" She declared.

Sparkler nodded and sat down between Dinky and The Professor, leaning close to her little sister so she could talk to her privately.

"Sister…" Dinky whispered, taking many deep breaths as her limbs trembled with fear and tiredness.

"Don't worry little sister, I'll keep you safe." Sparkler said, nuzzling her sister's mane while holding her close to her.

"I'm tired sister… and sleepy… and hungry…" Dinky whined. "I want mommy… and daddy…"

"Me too Dinky… me too…" Sparkler said sadly.

Mom and dad were probably in Canterlot still, with no idea that their two daughters had been fillynapped right out of their own home. This mad mare had waited until their parents were gone to strike, and had removed the only other element that had kept her at bay the previous time they encountered her, Dinky's toys.

The toys had stopped her the last time, and according to Rainbow Dash, who witnessed their heroics personally, told Sparkler that they had sacrificed themselves to keep her and Dinky safe. She had witnessed the toy's heroics as well, but only in the form of throwing themselves at The Professor to act as a wall. Without the toys to do that this time, she and Dinky were at her mercy now.

Which made Sparkler wish for a Manticore or even Changelings now, anything else dangerous would be a blessing compared to this Time Lord.

"Alright your ten minutes are up!" The Professor declared, standing up and looking at them with her murderous eyes again. "Move!"

Sparkler nodded and stood up, Dinky however was slow to get up and move. So to get her to move faster The Professor looked over at a small twig near Dinky's hoof. The instant she did the gun pointed at the twig as well.

-BANG-

The gunshot was so loud that it was more like thunder in the eerie quiet of the Everfree Forest. The twig was gone, the pieces having been flung in whatever direction the bullet had flung them. Dinky jumped and out of fear tried to hide between Sparkler's hooves.

"Get out from under her… now…" The Professor said, now pointing the gun at Dinky herself.

"Leave her alone!" Sparkler said, sitting back down and facing The Professor's gun with nothing but her own body to protect her little sister. "You're scaring her enough as is; you don't need to shoot her!"

The Professor's eye only twitched once, which was the only clue Sparkler had to duck.

-BANG-

Instantly the gun fired once more, and this time Sparkler felt the bullet barely graze her mane as it sped past.

"Anymore brave statements?" She hissed. "I said… move… the next one… won't miss…"

Sparkler took the hint and with Dinky next to her, moved in the direction The Professor told them to.

On they went for a good fifteen minutes before Dinky started slowing down again.

"Pick up your pace pony!" The Professor snarled, pointing the gun at Dinky again when she paused to breathe.

"She's tired can't you see that?!" Sparkler cried, trying to urge Dinky to keep moving even as Dinky pleaded with her eyes. "She's only two years old; she can't keep up this pace especially at this time!"

"Well she better start picking up her pace, or else you'll be down one filly in your family!" The Professor snarled. "Now start moving!"

"Please just let me carry her, we can move faster if you do!" Sparkler begged now. "Let me carry my little sis…"

"I SAID MOVE!" The Professor roared now.

Dinky started walking again, but she was crying as well as breathing hard. Sparkler knew she was frightened, tired, and wanting her mother and father. Right now though, she wanted her big sister to comfort her, even to hold her, anything to let her know that she was safe.

Yet Sparkler knew that if she tried to comfort Dinky, even a little, it might do more harm than good.

She felt helpless, worthless, not being able to do the one thing that a big sister should be doing, keeping her little sister safe.

=Dinky's PoV=

_-Why does this scary mare have to do this?-_ Dinky thought sadly as she walked through the night, heading toward the big scary yellow box that was that mare's home. _–Why can't she just leave us alone, why couldn't she let us sleep? What did we do that made her so mad?-_

She was so tired, so very tired as she walked through the Everfree Forest. She was tired, scared, and now she was hungry. She wished her mom and dad were there, she was sure mom and dad would never have let this scary mare ever come close to their house. She also wished that she had been allowed to keep even one of her toys, especially Mr. TomTom, just so she wouldn't feel so afraid.

But mostly, she wished that her big sister could hold her even a little.

They continued to walk before Dinky stopped, so tired that she just couldn't walk much further. She was so tired now that she collapsed on the ground, trying to catch her breath.

"What is it this time?" The scary mare calling herself The Professor roared. "We still have a long way to go, now get up and keep moving!"

"She's tired, can't you see that!" Sparkler pleaded. "She's too young to be walking this long at this time! Just let me carry her on my back please!"

"For a spawn of a Time Lord she sure is weak." The Professor said angrily. "Get up and move!"

"Sister…" Dinky whispered, looking up into her sister's worried face, begging her to do something to help.

"Look I don't care what you say; she's just a two year old filly!" Sparkler said. "She's barely able to walk to school on her own let alone to your Tardis. She isn't strong enough to go this far, please let me carry her for a while!"

"The only one making any demands and giving any instructions is the one holding the gun!" She said, pointing that strange thing at Sparkler again. "Now I don't care what you have to do, GET YOUR FATHER'S SPAWN MOVING!"

Sparkler bent down and patted Dinky's tired head, trying her best to remain calm. "Dinky, can you keep walking?" She asked nervously.

Dinky breathed heavily as she looked at Sparkler, tear running down her face. "I want… to go home… I want… to go to bed…" She cried. "I want mommy… I want daddy!"

"I know Dinky… but we need to keep walking…" Sparkler said, trying her best not to cry as well. "Come on little sister; get up for your big sister okay?"

Dinky nodded and shakily stood up, but her hooves were wobbly and hurt so much. She wanted to just lie down and sleep right there, but with her sister's encouragement she kept walking again. She was shivering as she walked now; this was a very cold night for her.

Trying to think of something nice and happy to cheer her up, Dinky tried remembering where she would be right now. Unfortunately that only made her feel even sadder when she realized where she was right now. Before this she was be all comfy and cozy in her sister's big warm bed, wrapped up under the soft blanket and held in her sister's warm hooves. They were just having a wonderful day of playing together, with her making fun of her big sister's cooking, and her toys playing pile on the sister.

Now she was tired, scared, sleepy, and cold. She was being forced to walk with her sister to a big scary yellow box. She hadn't even been allowed to keep her favorite toy for the trip.

Why did all this bad stuff have to happen today?

This thought made Dinky cry, but unable to stop without risking her sister getting hurt, she had no choice but to add one more misery to the list of miseries.

She couldn't even cry while sitting now, she had to cry while walking in this dark forest at night, with no rest, no food, and without being able to get even a hug from her big sister.

=Sparkler's PoV, two hours of walking later=

"Please let us stop for a while!" Sparkler finally said, gathering enough courage to risk speaking up at last after seeing her little sister's hooves shaking with each step they took. "Please I'm begging you; let us rest for a while. My sister can't keep this up; just let us rest for a while is all I ask!"

This was so very true. Dinky couldn't keep this pace up any longer, her hooves were shaking, she had stopped crying an hour ago, but that was only because she was puking at the time. She was exhausted beyond belief, she was starving, she was terrified, and now Sparkler was worried she was getting sick. Sparker didn't care if The Professor shot at her again with that gun, she would not let Dinky suffer another minute if she could help it.

"I don't care if she can't keep up the pace; we're nearly at my Tardis. So we keep walking!" She snarled.

"I'M BEGGING YOU, by Celestia's sun and Luna's moon and all that is good… please just let us rest for a while!" Sparkler cried, now kneeling before the Time Lord and sobbing to show her desperation. "I'm begging you… please… she's just a little filly… she's the only sister I've ever had in my life… for her sake is all I'm asking… just let her rest for a while… please…"

Sparkler was desperate to do anything to help her sister; it was her job as a big sister to protect her. "Please… I don't want…to lose her… she's the only sister I've ever had in my life! I don't care if you torture me later, but please just let her rest… I'm begging you… by whatever you Time Lords pray to and believe in… please… have mercy… please…"

Sparkler waited for the Time Lord to snarl, to roar at them in furry, demand them to keep moving, even fire that gun to get them to move. Yet it didn't come, for a minute Sparkler sobbed, still waiting for her response before she heard The Professor sigh. Looking up she watched The Professor look over at a nearby tree and some berry bushes, before she nodded at last.

"Fine… we'll wait until your sister is better." She whispered, and then tapped the strange contraption once to make the gun fold away.

Sparkler sighed in relief and went to her little sister. She had collapsed onto the ground, and was gasping for breath. She checked Dinky's eyes and noticed they had become bloodshot, her tongue was extremely dry, and her breathing was very slow. Putting a hoof to her sister's forehead she found it was burning.

"Dinky are you okay?" Sparkler asked.

Dinky only shook her head.

"What's the matter with her?" The Professor said.

"She's not feeling well; I think she's sick or something." Sparkler said nervously. "I'm not a medical pony; I don't know what's wrong with her. All I can tell is that she's got a fever I think!"

The Professor pushed Sparkler aside and sat down in front of Dinky. She took one glance at her eyes, before putting one hoof on her forehead and another on her back. Then she opened Dinky's mouth and checked her tongue and held one of her hooves for thirty seconds. "She's got a mild fever by the looks of it alight, probably caught something when we were walking." She said. "My Tardis' medical station is down so I won't be able to cure her there. She needs medical help soon or her condition will get worse. By the looks of her tongue, the bloodshot eyes, and the way she's breathing, it's probably some kind of local virus that your species is used to. However at her young age, her Time Lord Biology has yet to fully develop, or else she wouldn't be getting sick like this, and that means her immune system has yet to develop antibodies to whatever is wrong with her."

The Professor took a quick glance around as she continued to speak. "If she isn't treated soon this virus will start to get worse, and eventually she'll get very sick. If that happens the immune system won't be able to help, the fact that she puked earlier means that any food she had has been expelled. Her body is lacking calories and nutrients, without those her body can't fight back."

"Well where's the nearest hospital?" Sparkler asked quickly.

"We aren't going anywhere else but my Tardis." The Professor said. "You two are my hostages, I'm not going to let either of you get away or try and alert anypony as to what is going on."

"But we have to help her, you just said so yourself, if she doesn't get help soon she'll get worse!" Sparker declared.

In response The Professor walked over to a couple of rocks, picked one up, then moved over to a very small tree. She took the branches and, using the rock as a shape, created a very tight bowl with the branches. She then took the bowl and handed it to Sparkler.

"Take this and fill it up with some water, a small amount will suffice, there's a small stream that runs from an underwater lake and crosses here before going back underwater a couple feet over there." She declared, pointing over to Sparkler's left, before going over to another bush where there were some berries.

Not knowing what else to do, she went over to where she had told her to go. Sure enough there was a very small stream where The Professor had told her. Taking the bowl and filling it up with some water, she went back to where her sister was and found that The Professor had gathered not only the berries from that one bush, but also at least twelve varieties of leaves and roots.

"Give me the bowl now." The Professor said, and after Sparkler handed her the bowl, she started taking the berries and mashing them into the water with a smaller rock.

She worked for a few minutes, mashing and grinding the roots, berries, and leaves together into a strange liquid or goo that Sparkler had never seen. Then after she finished grinding it again she gave the bowl to Sparkler again.

"Have your sister drink this all in one go, don't stop or her stomach won't be able to take any of it." She said. "This will stop the fever in its tracks, and provide her body the necessary nutrients, calories, and vitamins to restore her health to prime condition."

Not knowing if she was lying, but wanting to help Dinky however she could, Sparkler took the mixture over to Dinky, where she was starting to recover some strength. "Dinky I need you to drink this all in one gulp okay?" She whispered, putting the bowl to her little sister's mouth.

Dinky looked at the bowl and sniffed it, making a disgusted face as she did. "It smells bad…" She complained.

Sparkler smiled a little, but picked up her sister and held her with one hoof and put the bowl to her mouth with the other. "Come on little sister, drink up!" She said, and poured it down her mouth in one go.

Dinky clearly did not like whatever The Professor had made, but she listened to her sister and drank it up in one gulp. "Bleh!" Dinky gasped, clearly wanting to spit out whatever she drank.

"That's my little sister, always hates her medicine!" Sparkler giggled, taking a hoof and checking Dinky's forehead.

The fever was already starting to go down, and she noticed that her sister's eyes were no longer bloodshot. Clearly that medicine had done its wonders, all in the time span of ten seconds.

"Amazing… how did you do this?" Sparkler asked.

She was amazed at what their fillynapper had done; sure she was still dangerous and clearly capable of killing them at any moment. But still Sparkler could not help but marvel at the miracle she had witnessed. Even with the finest of Celestia's and Luna's medical ponies, if they had lavished their medical skills and spells on her, they would have taken hours to diagnose and even longer to cure Dinky's condition.

The Professor had, with nothing more than a quick look, a feel with her hooves and clearly inside knowledge to the symptoms Dinky was suffering, managed to diagnose and create a cure with only the materials around her. She had done this all in a matter of minutes, and with no magic or any of her otherworldly technology.

She did all of that with nothing but local plants and berries, and even rocks.

"I've been on this planet for almost seven months; did you think I wouldn't have studied the local wildlife and vegetation?" The Professor said, brushing dirt and splinters off her hooves. "I may have spent many nights and days hunting your father down, but even I, a respectable and noble Time Lord, maintain my scientific curiosity of a planet's fauna. If I was to live as the rest of your species does, at least for my dietary needs, I needed to know what is edible and what isn't. This led me to learning about the medical uses your planet's plant life is good for. Your healers spend so much time using and testing magic's uses to heal the sick and wounded, they forget all about local vegetation's uses."

"We will rest for an additional ten minutes; your sister will need time to digest that medicine." The Professor declared, and the gun returned to its previous position, pointing at Sparkler and Dinky. "We are a few minutes away from my Tardis. So rest up while you can, the moment I say we move, we move. Is that clear?"

"Alright…" Sparkler whispered, being reminded that their captor was the one in charge.

As miraculous as the event had been for Sparkler, she had to remember that their lives were on the line. The only real reason The Professor had helped them was because she needed her and Dinky alive and unharmed to act as hostages.

Still that didn't stop Sparkler from feeling hopeful from that one act of kindness.

_-Maybe there is some good in her?-_ She thought.

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the yellow box, which was The Professor's Tardis in disguise. Sparkler felt nervous going into it, but even more nervous as their fillynapper pulled out three strange glowing rods attached to strings and put one over her head. "Wear these." She ordered, letting the glow rod dangle from her neck.

She put the other two around Dinky and Sparkler's necks before ordering them to enter the Tardis.

Sparkler expected to see and feel the familiar sight of this Tardis from their previous adventure, however it was completely dark inside, and the presence trying to inspire fear in them was absent. It almost felt… dead inside.

The Professor pushed them forward, away from the door, and Sparkler learned that it was absolute darkness the further they went, with the only sources of light being the glow rods. "Follow me!" She ordered after two minutes of walking. "Don't try to stray anywhere, it's absolutely dark on all levels, and these glow rods will only last a couple hours before they run out. There's no way you'll find your way back to the door, unless you know exactly how everything is layered out here, which I guarantee you don't."

She led them down one hallway, took left at one fork, walked down a flight of stairs, and down several more hallways before finally stopping at a door. She pushed the door's lock into the open position, struggling as she did, and panting after she finished. "In!" She ordered.

They went inside and Sparkler saw with the small light of her glow rod, just what she had feared.

Two iron cages of different sizes, sitting on opposite sides of the room, both waiting with open doors for their new occupants.

Sparkler tried to pull Dinky closer to her, but The Professor shoved Sparkler forward so hard that she fell head first into the larger cage.

-CLANG, Click-

The door banged and locked shut behind her. "SISTER!" Dinky cried.

Sparkler got up and watched as The Professor picked up Dinky with one hoof and forced her into the smaller cage opposite the room.

"DINKY!" Sparkler cried feebly.

-CLANG, Click-

The door closed and locked shut on Dinky, keeping her trapped behind the bars.

"These cages are specially designed with locks that are only voice activated." The Professor said with a cruel smirk. "Even if you somehow could use your magic to open the cages' locks, you still can't bypass the voice release mechanism. Those cages, will only open unless I tell them to open. Well, you were asking for rest before, now you've got it."

She turned to leave the room, giving a sadistic laugh as she did. "I'll be back in a couple of hours to replace the glow rods!" She said through her laugh. "I have things to take care of, and certain… items to prepare for later! Enjoy your stay, my PRISONERS!"

The Professor laughed even louder as her glow rod left the room, leaving Sparkler and Dinky all alone in the room.


	5. Chapter 4 - Starvation

Chapter 4 – Starvation

=Sparkler's PoV=

"Come on magic… do something please?" Sparkler whispered to herself as she concentrated with all of her might on the cage's lock.

She felt her magic doing something with the lock, but the instant she did it failed.

"No come on open the lock!" Sparkler pleaded with her magic, wishing she were more proficient with it.

They had been in this dark room for, by her estimate, half an hour. During that half hour Sparkler had tried to find some way to get the cages open without resorting to magic. However that was foiled because there was nothing in the cage she could have used, now she was spending all her magic trying to open her cage. Yet all she had managed to do was tire herself out as she always did when trying to use magic more complicated than just lifting a small apple.

"Sister…" Dinky said nervously from across the room.

Sparkler looked up at her sister, but she could barely see Dinky's scared face by the dim light of her glow rod. "What's wrong Dinky?" She asked, trying to sound brave despite the condition they were in.

"My glowing stick is getting less glowy." Dinky said, pointing at her glow rod.

Sparkler did notice that the glow rods that The Professor had given them weren't glowing as brightly as they were before.

"Don't worry little sister; the glow rod is still working." Sparkler said. "Besides if we need something to see, I can still use my magic to make my horn glow as well!"

"Can you do that?" Dinky asked.

"Yea sure… just… let me try…" Sparkler said nervously.

She had honestly never used her magic to make her horn glow, but she figured might as well try something to keep her sister calm. She concentrated on her horn, willed her magic to work, and summoned it to do what she asked.

Instantly her magic worked, her horn glowed and she was able to at least see a good portion of the room around her. "There you see sister?" Sparkler said happily, although she breathed very hard. "It's easy as making cupcakes!"

She turned her horn to look at her little sister, but suddenly jumped back as she saw an aging stallion right in front of her. "Ahhhh!" She cried, jumping back and hitting her head on the back of the cage.

"Surprised… to… see me?" He whispered.

Once Sparkler had gotten over the shock and her breath caught up with her, she turned her horn to light up the aging stallion's appearance.

It was The Tardis, or at least this Tardis' visual representation when it spoke to her and anypony. He was certainly in a much worse off mess than she last remembered him looking. He looked like he was starving, his mane, coat, legs, and neck were all wrapped up in bandages, and his eyes were more grey than anything she had ever seen. Even as she looked at him, he no longer seemed to exert that sense of being all powerful, all knowing, and invincibility that he had portrayed before.

Now he looked more like a pony that had spent the last four days awake with no sleep, food, or rest.

"What the… what do you want?" Sparkler said worriedly.

He almost laughed at her words, if that cough he gave didn't look so painful and caused him to nearly collapse onto the ground in front of her. Behind him Sparkler noticed Dinky eyeing the stallion with worry and curiosity in her eyes.

"You ask me… what do… I want?" He said after his coughing fit had subsided. "I just want… my pain… to end…"

"What happened to you?" Sparkler asked. "Where are the whole shadow things, the big fear inspiration to my heart, and the big voice thing in the background like last time? Why are you so… frail and… old and…"

"You sound… surprised…" He gasped again. "What… shocked that… even we… us TARDIS models… can be reduced… to such a frail… state? It's what happens… when a thousand years… of low maintenance… and running on substandard… parts… will do to you."

He looked into Sparkler's eyes and then she felt his pain crossing over to her mind. She could feel old, so old that every breath seemed to take enormous effort to take. Her legs felt like boulders being weighed down by mountains. Even the air she breathed seemed to make her weak with each second she breathed it.

There was no anger, there wasn't even any furry in his voice. He seemed like a pony that just wanted to lie down on the couch, sit there and take a long nap while it rained outside.

"Your family… seems to give… me no end… and bring nothing… but suffering…" He said with a sad smile. "I thought… we had won… but in the end… she and I lost… and even now… we still can't win… with nothing left to lose."

"What happened?" Dinky asked.

The stallion looked over at Dinky and by Sparkler's light, she saw a sad smile cross his face. "So beautiful… so pure… so… young… why can't she see you now… like I can now…" He said to himself, but Sparkler could tell that there was a much deeper meaning behind those words than just him talking about her age. "The last time… I felt you… I could not… touch you… that toy… was the only thing… that could be harmed… You have your father's… your father's… your… fa…ther's…"

With each whisper he made his voice grew weaker and weaker, before Sparkler noticed his body growing even thinner as she watched. The wrappings binding him covered most of him, but there was just enough light from her horn and enough space to see his stomach underneath. She saw his stomach becoming thinner and thinner, to the point where his bones were more visible.

"I can't even… talk now… so weak…" He whispered as he collapsed next to Sparkler.

"Hey, hey Mr. Tardis!" Sparkler shouted, trying to wake him up. "What's wrong, what's going on with you?"

He wearily got up and looked at Sparkler again in the eyes. His eyes had gotten even greyer, losing even more color. He looked even weaker and feebler than he was when he appeared before them.

"She… is a fool… as am I now… to think that… we could have killed your father." He said with an even weaker voice. "We thought… that we could triumph… but we have no one… to fight for… no cause but revenge. But your dad… has you two… and her… and them… and… all of you… an entire planet… of reasons to fight for."

He held up one of his hooves and feebly tried to touch Sparkler, but then he let it fall back to the ground. "She's… trying to save me… but… there's no way… I can tell… if she'll succeed…" He whispered, slowly limping and half dragging himself toward the door and out of the room. "If only… we had known… what he was… capable of doing… she could have… stopped herself… before we angered him…"

"What happened, what did my dad do?" Sparkler asked quickly, trying to get him to stay.

"Such anger… such furry… such… pain and suffering…" He whispered to himself as he left the room. "We didn't… stand… a chance…"

After the stallion left, she and Dinky had to sit in the dark with only the glow rods to light up the room. She had to stop using magic to make light because it was much more taxing than anything Sparkler had ever done in her life, at least when she used magic. She also figured that right now, she had to keep her strength up as much as possible. If she had to use magic again, she would have to keep as much of her strength as she could.

She figured that the Tardis wasn't going to be suppressing her magic this time around; he barely looked capable of even holding a cup of juice, let alone keeping her magic from working. Despite the fact that she couldn't use magic against The Professor because she was immune to it, she knew that magic was still her best chance to fight back and escape this vessel with her sister.

Without her magic to light the room however, she had to spend more time talking to Dinky so as to keep her calm. Which was becoming increasingly harder as time went on, if the conversations they were having was anything to go by, because her little sister was getting more morbid thoughts by the second.

"Sister… do you think we'll get out of here?" Dinky asked finally when Sparkler had exhausted all of her other conversation topics.

"Of course we will Dinky." Sparkler said, trying to sound confident. "Just you wait, I'll find a way to get us out!"

"I hope so…" Dinky whispered sadly. "I want to see mom and dad again…"

"Me too Dinky, me too." Sparkler replied, glancing over at her little sister's face and noticing how much weaker the glow rod hanging from her neck had gotten.

She could barely see her little sister's face with the small glow coming from the glow rod now, so clearly that was a sign that their captor was on her way to replace them.

Thinking about their captor made Sparkler remember the act of kindness she had performed for Dinky, and how easily and naturally it seemed to have been for her. All this time, since the first day Sparkler had seen The Professor for whom and what she truly was, she had the appearance of a merciless pony. She had acted more like a Changeling than a 'Respectable Timelord', she acted even worse in that she did not care what happened to innocent ponies as long as she got what she wanted. The Professor even tried to threaten a small two year old filly, simply because she was related to their father.

"But she's only like this because of all the suffering she's endured." Sparkler said to herself. "Her journal told us that much at least, she's suffered so much pain just by being all alone… with nopony to talk to for Celestia knows how long."

"Sister who are you talking about?" Dinky asked.

"That mare who fillynapped us." Sparkler replied. "The Professor who wants to hurt our dad, I don't know what she wants with us, but she's not right in the head as far as I can see."

"Do you think she wants to hurt us?" Dinky asked nervously.

"I'm more worried about what she'll do to us if she gets upset, than her actually wanting to hurt us Dinky."

"I don't think she really wants to hurt us sister…" Dinky said.

"What makes you think that?" Sparkler asked curiously.

"I don't know… she just… seems scared to me." Dinky answered, looking at Sparkler as her glow rod started to grow even dimmer. "It's like that one time daddy was in the hospital, and mommy stayed home from work. You remember sister?"

"Oh yea, I remember that time alright." Sparkler said, remembering the day their dad injured himself with one of his tools.

Dinky was screaming like she had just had her back drilled into, and when their mother had finally calmed her down enough to ask what was wrong, she only said that dad was hurt somewhere. When asked where she only said the words, blue box, before their mother dashed out the back door. Later on she came home telling them that their dad was in the hospital.

Their mom took several days off from work, risking getting fired because of her poor reliability record, but she said that her reasons had been accepted her supervisor's boss. She only ever came home at night when visiting hours at the hospital were over for days after. She seemed almost frantic to be as close to their dad as she could.

She wondered before why she always acted so differently around their dad, even when it came to apparently simple or normal occasions. Now she knew why, after facing death on countless adventures with him, she learned the value of their lives together.

Ditzy was afraid that, as invincible as he seemed, something as ordinary as a carving drill coming closer than any Dalek, Cyberpony, and any other foe they had faced had come to killing him worried her greatly.

"What makes you think she's acting like mom did sister?" Sparkler asked Dinky.

"I don't know sister… it's like I feel something… telling me…" Dinky replied. "It's like something is… telling me… that she's just scared… scared of losing somepony precious to her sister. Like how mommy felt when daddy was hurt. She didn't want to lose daddy, and she was so afraid when he was in the hospital. It's also like that time we were first inside daddy's blue box! You remember that feeling?"

"Something telling you… that does sound familiar now that you mention visiting dad's Tardis…" She said.

Their dad's Tardis had inspired peace and serenity in them, making them feel absolutely safe and secure throughout their time aboard. The same thing happened while they were on board this Time Lord's Tardis, with her Tardis trying to inspire fear into them all the time they were there. Yet this time around, Sparkler wasn't feeling anything.

"Maybe he can only talk to one of us right now…" Sparkler whispered to herself.

Five minutes later the glowing from their glow rods almost completely expired. Just as the glowing stopped, The Professor walked in with several new glow rods for them to wear.

"Alright, time to change glow rods." She said. "Let's start with the spawn why don't we?"

The Professor approached Dinky's cage and cleared her throat before saying, "Voice ID Professor, Password 7-1-12-12-9-6-18-5-25."

-BEEP, Click-

The Professor opened the cage and pulled the glow rod off from around Dinky's neck before hanging another glow rod from it. After the glow rod was in place she closed the door again.

-Click-

Sparkler watched The Professor as she turned to face her now, giving only a faint smile before she repeated the same password to open her cage as well. "Here, put this on." She ordered, tossing her a new glow rod. "You're coming with me."

Sparkler eyed the glow rod before glancing at Dinky. "Where…" She asked nervously.

"Somewhere aboard my Tardis, that's all you need to know." She said, raising an eyebrow. "I won't tell you again, put that on and follow me. If you don't follow me than I'll lock you in your cage and you can watch as your sister takes your place."

Sparkler nodded nervously, using her magic to put the glow rod around her neck and getting rid of the old one. "Alright…" She said, taking several deep breaths.

"This way." The Professor said, turning and walking toward the door.

"Sister?" Dinky said quickly.

Sparkler took the chance to look at her little sister's worried face before giving her best confident smile she could bear. "Don't worry little sis, big sister will be right back alright?" She said, trying to hide the fear in her tone.

"Okay…" Dinky said quietly.

Taking a risk, Sparkler held out her hoof in their usual gesture when she was making her sister promise. "Sister promise Dinky!" She said, trying to smile.

Dinky gave a small smile before tapping Sparkler's hoof with her small hoof as well. "Sister promise…"

Sparkler gave a short nod before taking a deep, calming breath, and following The Professor out of the room.

"Sister Promise?" She asked curtly as she led the way down a hallway.

"What do you want with me and my sister?" Sparkler asked. "I know it's not just because you want hostages. If that's the case I would have been enough, so why my little sister, why do you need her as well?"

"Answer my questions first." The Professor said.

Sparkler sighed in frustration. "It's a thing with me and my sister; it's something I started doing with her as a symbol of trust for bother her and myself." She replied. "It's just one of those things I started doing with her, and it's become a catch phrase between us now. I've always been looking for a family since I was an orphan, and when I became a member of Dinky's family… I just started saying Sister Promise whenever I promised to do something. Since then it's been our code phrase, it's how we both know that everything will be okay in the end."

"These Sister Promises, do always you keep them?" The Professor asked as she led her down a flight of stairs.

"I do my best to keep them, it's one of my promises I made to Mr. Hooves before I officially could call him dad." Sparkler said. "I promised to be the best big sister to his daughter as I could be. Ever since that day, I've always tried to keep my promise to my new mom and dad. When I first met Dinky I could tell that she was so special to her mother and father. I just wanted to prove to myself that I could be just as special, to both them and my new little sister."

"I only asked if you always kept these Sister Promises, I didn't ask for your life's story." The Professor said. "A simple yes would have been sufficient."

She continued leading her further down into her Tardis, where Sparkler only vaguely remembered the layout as the path Celestia led them to rescue her father. However she couldn't tell with the lights off and only being able to see a few inches in front of her face. What she did notice however was that the further she went, the more desperate she seemed to be feeling, as though something was trying with all its might to cling to life.

"You were wondering why I brought both of you, and why I needed both of you?" The Professor suddenly said as she opened a door and had Sparkler go first. "You were right in one regard, if I did just need hostages you would have been sufficient. I had an ulterior motive for bringing you both."

Once Sparkler was inside and The Professor closed the door she heard some cracking noises behind her, which turned out to be her turning on some new glow rods. Each time she cracked one and made it glow she threw it over to one side of the room, and each one she threw helped light up the room they were in.

"You see little Sparkler, adopted daughter of The Doctor, there is a very good reason why I captured both of you." She said as she continued to toss glow rods around the room, revealing a strange helmet with wires and clamps in the middle of the rom. "You see, even though you are unskilled with magic, thanks to the knowledge I gained from our lovely conversation the first time we met. You are still a genuine, Unicorn, and as such you still can channel magic! Magic… whatever it is here… is a source of energy among your species and that energy can make things happen that would normally require technology for me to achieve."

"You Unicorns are still an unknown mystery to me, something I need to figure out, for even though I had all the advantages the last time I fought with your species. Your magic was one factor I did not expect would have played such a big part in my fight with your father. I anticipated that he would try something with your magic in our battle, and while I countered that easily, I did not expect magic to be… so versatile."

"What does this have to do with me and my sister?" Sparkler said nervously as yet more of the contraption was revealed, seeing the wires connected to some enormous chamber that where Sparkler was standing seemed to radiate with ancient power. "I told you, I'm terrible with magic, and Dinky is only two years old. What can we do that another Unicorn can't do better?"

_-This isn't good, she's up to something…-_ Sparkler thought quickly. _–I've got to keep her away from Dinky, maybe if I keep playing the 'young under aged, inexperienced' filly card she won't bother with her.-_

"I believe I said that even if you are terrible with magic, you can still channel it." She said with a smirk, tossing the last of the glow rods. "Your father is a monster; he destroyed all of my cloning research, sabotaged centuries of effort, and most importantly, destroyed my only means of transport in this galaxy. I know when I've been beat, and I know when I've clearly overstayed my welcome. Your father destroyed my Tardis… the acidic fluid that was pumped throughout the fire suppression system spread to nearly all sections of my Tardis. The damage was too much for him to take; he suffered extensive damage, irreparable damage to his power core and every other system aboard. I can't even get the lights on because of all the damage done."

"If there was enough energy in the power core I could turn on the phase-repair systems and restore my Tardis back into better condition." She said, now glaring at Sparkler with a hungry stare. "Alas… there's not enough power… even with everything turned off, he's only got six percent power remaining and it's draining away every second. I attempted to repower him with the energy stored in those toys your father makes… but even with two hundred and eighty seven power cells, I only transferred four percent. Needless to say the exchange cost me two percent of my Tardis' remaining power, so a net worth of two percent isn't very good. The moment I knew that this couldn't save him is when I suddenly had a spark of inspiration…"

"And that… would be…" Sparkler said nervously, taking a step back in fear.

"Use… Unicorn magic… to repower my Tardis!" She hissed. "So while you and your sister were upstairs… I created this little number using all the remaining technology I had left at my disposal that **wasn't** destroyed by the acid. It's designed to absorb and channel any energy source that the helmet wearer gives off."

The Professor pointed at four clamps on the floor, indicating where Sparkler was to stand. Seeing no way out but to obey her captor, Sparkler went and let the four clamps lock her hooves in place. Once she was tied down The Professor took the helmet and strapped it to her head, with only a small hole to let her horn poke through the contraption. Then she took several wires with clamps and strapped them to her horn as well.

"There… now you're ready to channel energy into my Tardis' power core." The Professor said with satisfaction. "This helmet will channel the energy you create with magic and convert it into an energy that my Tardis can use! Every iota of energy you give off will be converted and transferred into the power core through these wires!"

"But how do you know this thing will work with my magic?" Sparkler said nervously.

The Professor only turned to look at her with one eye before she said the most terrifying words Sparkler ever heard from her so far. "You best hope it works… or else I'll **find** a way to make it work… with yours or your **sister's** magic!" She whispered. "Now… start channeling magic, and don't stop until you're unable to!"

Sparkler nodded and looked at her horn, saying a silent prayer to Celestia and Luna that for once, her magic would not just fade away like it always did. _–Please magic… don't fail me this time… if ever there was a time to work properly let it be this time!-_ She thought to herself as she took several deep breaths, before starting to channel her magic into the only object she was permitted to, the helmet.

Instantly the helmet glowed and she felt her magic flowing from her horn and into the helmet, and from there through the wires and into the power core.

Suddenly Sparkler could feel The Professor's Tardis, as though the helmet had given her direct access to the alien vessel. She could tell that The Professor's mad scheme was doomed to fail, there was no way Sparkler's magic, Dinky's magic, or the Princesses magic, heck even every Unicorn in Equestria combining their spells together, could hope to fill the void she could feel.

The Tardis' power core was so empty, so empty of life and anything else that resembled life, Sparkler could tell that her magic would be sucked dry if she tried to power it. That empty void which represented the state the Tardis' power core was in seemed to drain her magic too quickly and too easily. When she channeled her magic at full strength, it emptied into the void and demanded she give even more than she could channel.

"Yes… THAT'S IT, IT'S WORKING!" The Professor shouted enthusiastically, laughing in excitement as the helmet continued to channel magic into the power core.

Sparkler continued to channel her magic, but the pressure she was being forced to channel it grew every second. It was like she was trying to pour water into a glass that had holes in it, and it only drained faster as she tried to keep the water high enough. It didn't help either that she could feel her magic beginning to weaken.

"Not now… not now!" Sparkler pleaded to herself, trying to force her magic back to full power.

However she was beginning to tire faster, and trying to make her magic work at full power again only tired her out faster. Soon the helmet stopped glowing and Sparkler was panting for breath.

"I didn't tell you to stop!" The Professor yelled angrily. "Get up and keep going!"

Sparkler gasped her words at the Time Lord, unable to breathe properly after exerting all of her strength and stamina on just channeling magic. "I… can't… go on…" She whispered. "I'm… at my limit… I'm terrible with… magic… even basic… spells are a chore."

"Well then let's see how well you did…" The Professor said, going over to the power core and examining something in a language Sparkler couldn't read. "You managed to increase the power core's energy level by… HALF A PERCENT? THAT'S ALL YOU COULD DO?"

Sparkler almost laughed, if she had the breath to laugh that is. All that effort and Sparkler had been hoping for even a fraction of the number the Professor yelled out. Still that only meant one thing; The Professor was not done with her, not by a long shot!"

"Ugh, figures… of all the Unicorns I could have abducted, and of all the Unicorns your father could have adopted, you have to be the WEAKEST of all your species!" She roared in frustration, taking the clamps off of her and angrily pulling her onto her hooves. "I suppose I should try your sister next, but seeing as she's too young to use magic, despite her Time Lord genes, she probably wouldn't offer anything more than you could! I guess I have no choice but to hope that Plan B works now!"

"Plan… B?" Sparkler asked worriedly.

"Yes, it's almost sunrise your time!" The Professor said, prodding her forward. "You see I didn't just decide to abduct you and your sister for no other reason than to experiment with your magic. I brought you here so that I could get your Dalek Trash Father to help me repair my Tardis! He did all this damage, destroyed all my research, and he's the cause of the power loss. I need a new power core to replace the one that currently runs my Tardis, I fashioned this one almost seventeen hundred years ago, and naturally its power output ratio is well below what the standard was before."

"You made that thing?" Sparkler said, breathing easier now that she wasn't using magic extensively.

"Of course I did, it was the only way I could keep this Tardis model running." She said angrily. "No other Time Lord would have bothered with this thing when the newer models were designed. I liked this one though, so I bartered and traded for it, even used all of my engineering skills to make that core specifically for this Tardis. Yet after seventeen hundred years of lacking proper maintenance, and having no more assistance after the fall of…"

Sparkler could tell that she had reached a very touchy subject, and she only had to hear the words 'fall of' to understand what that subject was.

She knew from the stories that Princess Luna, later on Celestia, and The Professor's Journal, the story of The Last Great Time War. It was a war between The Time Lords, and the Daleks, over the future of the galaxy. Her father, at the climax of the war, just when both sides were prepared to destroy each other and the universe around them, is when he did something to end the war once and for all. He destroyed both sides, and somehow sealed the war from time, so that nothing from the war could escape from that time period.

In doing so he had saved all of creation, both past and future. Yet this survival came at the price of his entire species being driven to extinction. He had presumed to be the last of his species, the last remaining trace of an entire species' history and legacy. Yet now here was proof that another Time Lord had survived, but she was the opposite of her father, bent on revenge and trying her hardest to avoid becoming what her father had become.

"I'm sorry about… your loss…" She said, taking the momentary pause in her talking to say something for her father's sake. "I can't imagine what it's like… to lose your entire species… to lose everypony you've ever known…"

"Shut up…" She hissed. "They aren't and never were ponies… so don't ever use that term to describe them!"

"But…" Sparkler tried to say but The Professor didn't give her time to finish.

"You want to know what it's like to lose my entire species; you want to experience what it's like to lose everyone I ever knew?" She hissed angrily. "Keep talking and I'll let you know just a hint of my pain. I lost my brother, my little brother in that horrible war, a war that your father ended! You know how old he was when he died?"

Sparkler shook her head as she was pushed onward, back up toward the cage room where her sister was waiting for her. "He would have turned forty seven the day after the war ended, if he had escaped with me… if he had survived…" She stuttered, her hooves shaking in barely controlled fury. "Well let's just say if you keep pushing my buttons Sparkler, you'll get to experience my pain first hand. So remember that!"

A few minutes later they were back in the cage room where Dinky was waiting. The Professor opened Sparkler's cage and shoved her inside, cracking another glow rod into life and tossing it into the cage before locking it. Then she went to Dinky's cage and cracked another glow rod for her as well, before finally leaving the room.

"Are you okay sister?" Dinky asked nervously.

Sparkler shook her head, racking her brain to try and figure a way out of their predicament. "No Dinky, we're not okay." She said.

=Mr. TomTom's Pov=

**(Trail indicates our destination is The Professor's Tardis… analyzing memory banks for last known coordinates of Professor's Tardis. Cross referencing database with estimated trail location...)**

**(…)**

**(…)**

**(…)**

**(Affirmative, trail leads to last known coordinates, threat level remains above normal standards!)**

In front of him as he flew over the wild grass and below the tree line of the Everfree Forest, Mr. Wheely used his rubber ball wheels to speak his concern.

**-Vrooom, Voom Vroom?-**

**(Negative, we are no match for a Time Lord without Midnight Luna to aid us. We must avoid a conflict at all costs; we are currently Dinky's only hope for rescue until morning! Filly Protection Protocol dictates that we attempt a rescue before our creature learns of this issue.)**

**-Vrooom, Vroom Voooooooooom!-**

**(Affirmative, we will and can sacrifice ourselves to save Dinky and her sister, but priority one is to first locate Dinky and ascertain the situation before attempting a complicated rescue plan!)**

They continued onward toward their destination, it had been about two hours since they reactivated, and in that time they had covered, by Mr. TomTom's estimate, two fifths of the journey to The Professor's Tardis. Their pace was as quick as it could be, considering they weren't designed to go any faster than eight or nine MPH. Even at his fastest speed, Mr. TomTom would need at least one full hour to reach The Professor's Tardis from the Hooves family house.

This of course didn't include the fact that his speed was slowed down due to following Mr. Wheely as well as being followed by Boopyball. Boopyball, being a large blimp and flying thanks to two small propellers, could only travel so fast. Since he didn't know exactly where Dinky had been taken, so without that confirmation, he had no choice but to follow Mr. Wheely's DNA tracker.

**-Beeep Booop?-**

**(Negative Boopyball, we must not separate for any reason. Our progress is slower because of your accompanying us, but we must not let that separate us. My calculations put our chances of success at rescuing Dinky and her sister at eighty seven percent more likely if we are together.)**

**-Beeep Boopy beep bop beep!-**

**(Affirmative, we will continue on as planned.)**

So they did, they continued following Mr. Wheely through the night. However they stumbled on their path as Mr. Wheely came across a strange mix of fluid and solid on their path halfway through the trip.

**-Vroom Vooom!-**

**(That is not Dinky.)**

**-Vooom Vooom!-**

**(DNA analysis indicates 98% Dinky's DNA in the substance, but that is not Dinky.)**

**-Beep Boop beep!-**

**(Affirmative… substance includes trace amounts of dinner from yesterday; my estimated guess is that this is excreted remains of Dinky's stomach. By the coloration and based on odor analysis, this was excreted through her mouth about one hour and fifteen minutes ago.)**

**-Beep booop!-**

**(We must continue following Dinky's Trail, Mr. Wheely please locate Dinky's DNA and continue to track her!)**

**-Vroooooooom!-**

**(That is not Dinky.)**


	6. Chapter 5 - Negotiation

Chapter 5 – Negotiation

**/watch?v=IMEHPX8cxDk**

=The Doctor's PoV=

"SPARKLER, DINKY!" Derpy yelled as she and he ran frantically toward their home, seeing the broken down front door.

The Doctor had insisted on heading straight home, not able to shake that uneasy feeling he had since last night. Celestia had offered him breakfast if he chose to stay for an extra hour, but he had insisted to her that they head home. So with all of his tools in tow, he and Derpy left the palace at the crack of dawn and began making their way back to Ponyville.

They had been walking for a while before Derpy asked him why he was so insistent on going home so soon.

"_Doctor why didn't we stay for breakfast?"_ Derpy asked as they left the palace behind them. _"I know you want to go home, but why couldn't we have at least had breakfast before going? It just seems rude to just tell Princess Celestia no after she offers us breakfast."_

"_I know Derpy, but something tells me that something is wrong, something is very wrong!" _He replied as they continued to walk. _"There are a lot of things that don't make sense and just seem wrong, and I won't feel any better about any of it until we get home and make sure Dinky and Sparkler are safe and sound."_

"_Does it have something to do with your toys missing their power thingy's?" _Derpy asked him, her eyes 'derping' as she looked in confusion.

"_I think so, something just doesn't add up when you think about it."_ He had said. _"My toys are the targets and not me or any of the owners? Why the power cells and nothing else? Why not take the technology inside the toys as well when she clearly had the chance and opportunity, heck why not just take the toys like she did last time? Why only take their power cells, and why be so stealthy about it?"_

Naturally Derpy didn't understand how much thought his brain had put into thinking about the situation all night. Yet that didn't matter, it was one of her best points that she asked these questions, it made him put even more thought into those questions he just proposed to her.

The Professor had been stealing the power cells from all of his toys in Canterlot, not because they were of better quality but because of the sheer number of toys that were in Canterlot. Compared to any of the other towns, cities and other places where he shipped his toys, most of them could be found in Canterlot, thanks in part to Celestia and Luna being his number one customers.

The fact that she went to Canterlot, and over the course of three days stole the power cells of probably every single toy she could get her hooves on, clearly indicates that she needed them for something. What that something was however, he didn't know. Was she trying to create some super weapon to wipe out life on Gaia? Was she trying to prepare a doomsday device specifically designed to eradicate Time Lord DNA? What was she planning to do with all that energy?

There wasn't nearly enough energy to power anything beyond an atomic bomb from Earth, and the sands of time forgive her if she tried to create some kind of death beam similar to the Daleks. The energy wasn't lethal enough and it wasn't transferable, at best she could make him laugh with a serious tickle beam. Apart from a joke weapon, she couldn't do anything with those power cells.

This also didn't include the fact that she took them from their sources of transferable power, the toys themselves. If she needed a convertible energy, one that was renewable and limitless for whatever purpose she wanted, she would have taken the toys whole and not just the power cells, which again raises the question of what could she have planned with those power cells?

However at the moment, all those questions were thrown out the window the moment he and his wife spotted the busted down front door of their house.

The moment he entered the house, he instantly knew that something terrible had happened. The living room was a complete mess, the couch had been thrown to one side, the shelves were in a terrible state, and books were tossed around. The table was broken, and the front door was quite literally everywhere.

"SPARKLER, DINKY!" Derpy yelled as he looked around the living room for any evidence.

Derpy ran into their daughter's bedroom, but came out shaking her head. "They're not in their room!" She said quickly.

"Are any of Dinky's toys in her room?" He asked.

"No!"

"The Tardis!" He said quickly. "Maybe they're in the Tardis; if something happened Sparkler would take Dinky and go in there!"

They ran out the back door, The Doctor only pausing to grab his sonic screwdriver from their bedroom before joining her outside. He quickly activated his sonic screwdriver and turned off the Tardis' disguise, revealing the blue box beneath the tree. Seeing the police public callbox instantly made him stop, already realizing that their daughters weren't in there.

"They aren't in there…" He whispered sadly. "If they were in there, The Tardis wouldn't have hidden itself as a tree in our backyard. If they were in there it would have been in its blue box disguise, not a normal tree. Not to mention it would have hidden itself far away from our home to keep those two safe."

"Well where are they?" Derpy cried. "Where's our filly Doctor, where's our daughter Sparkler?"

"I don't know!" He shouted. "I don't know everything Derpy, I wish I did!"

They went back inside the house, him wanting to try and find some clue as to where his daughters were, and who would have done this. Only after the shock of seeing their home ransacked and his family missing, did he finally notice one of Dinky's toys hiding in one of the room's corners.

It was her WalkNTalk Celestia toy, hiding in the corner and watching him with its glassy eyes. "What happened here?" He demanded, not needing to go through the whole 'Creator' speech. All of Dinky's toys would respond to his voice and image, all he needed to do was ask and they would answer.

The toy slowly walked out of the corner and stood in front of him, limping whenever it took a step with its front left leg. **"Creator, last night at time index 16-25-12, we detected a strange energy signature 9.4 feet west of the house."** The toy said. **"At this Boopyball and I went to the window to get visual identification of what was outside. We could not get a visual for Mr. TomTom to identify, but we could see a strange pony. Unknown reason at the time as to why they were there, however fifteen point seven seconds later, an EMP device was activated, shutting down our systems and deactivating all of us simultaneously."**

"What does that mean?" Derpy asked.

"Celestia toy, what happened after EMP device went off?" He asked, knowing that Dinky's toys were each recently equipped with an emergency power cell.

These emergency cells were designed to give the toys an alternate power source in case of something like an EMP. This would also allow the toys a chance to restore power to their primary power cells and continue acting in case of a power failure.

Apparently his choice to add the backup power cells had been a good choice.

"**After the EMP Device deactivated our systems we went offline, however approximately one hour after our initial shutoff our Emergency Power Cells became active and transferred energy to allow us to restore our systems to normal functionality. We proceeded to analyze the situation and after determining the abduction of Dinky Doo Hooves and Sparkler Hooves, we entered condition Red Mode, and proceeded to activate our Filly Protection Tools and protocols. Mr. TomTom, Mr. Wheely, and Boopyball all went to locate and attempt a rescue."**

"What does that mean Doctor, did they find Dinky?" Derpy asked.

"No Derpy, the toys probably haven't found Dinky yet or else they would have communicated a successful rescue and returned safely." He said. "Though why didn't you go with the others Celestia toy?"

At these words the Celestia toy looked at its front left leg before it answered him. **"When the EMP went off, Boopyball and I fell together and he landed heavily on my leg, damaging it. The damage is not severe, but the damage reduced my movement speed by fifteen percent, rendering me incapable of keeping up with the others at top speed. Therefore we elected to have me stay behind, while they proceeded to find Dinky. It was my task to inform you of the situation, should you arrive before they did."**

"Well that explains that, but why would The Professor take Sparkler and Dinky?" He said. "What could she possibly want with them… unless…"

Derpy looked at him nervously when he didn't finish what he was saying. "Unless what Doctor?"

"Unless she's planning to take revenge on me… with them…" He finished, praying to whatever would spare him that fate. "Dinky's part Time Lord, of that she knows, but besides that she has no real value to her besides as a means to hurt me. The same goes for Sparkler, she's just an adopted Unicorn to her, but to us she's one of our precious daughters. If she was planning to take revenge against me… she would take those two… they wouldn't have stood a chance if they had no warning…"

As he continued to hope that his two daughters were alive and well, the toy walked over to him and nudged him with one hoof to get his attention. **"Forgive me creator, but there are two things I would like to point out."** It said in a respectful voice. **"The first is that there is a foreign object that does not belong in the house, lying among the remains of the door two feet to your left. The second is that my sensors have not received any signals from Mr. TomTom as of two hours ago, this is because they left my maximum sensor range."**

The Doctor ignored the second statement for the moment however, as he looked where the toy had pointed out the 'Foreign Object' for him. The object in question was, after a brief glance, a two way communicator with a holographic projector installed.

"What is it Doctor, does it have something to do with our daughters?" Derpy asked.

The communicator hummed for a second after he picked it up, and then started glowing. "I think we're about to find out." He said coldly as the holographic projector turned on.

The holographic projector was clearly a hashed up, put together at the last minute design, because the image was static for several seconds before it finally stabilized. The image of The Professor standing before them appeared, looking like she had just walked through a collapsed building that was on fire while it was hailing outside.

**[Greetings Doctor, as you know who I am I believe the formalities of introductions are not needed for this little call.]** She said to him. **[I want to thank you for being so timely and predictable with arriving at just the right time. It makes this call so much more purposeful, the battery for my end simply won't last a second call.]**

"What do you want Professor?" He said with barely suppressed anger.

**[I'm here to talk about a deal; no doubt you've seen my work in your home?]** She said with a smirk. **[You want your daughters back right, well I've got them both here. You do what I say and get me what I want, and I'll give you back your two pony daughters.]**

"How do we know they're both fine?" Derpy demanded from his side, taking the holographic projector for herself. "For all we know you could have… have… vaporized them or… or dissected them or…"

In response The Professor vanished from the hologram, and two seconds later pushed a struggling Sparkler Hooves, wearing a glow rod around her neck, into view. **[Tell them who you are, and tell them something only the REAL Sparkler would know!]** She yelled in the background.

Sparkler got up, giving her captor a glance that told him that she was afraid of something else. **[My name is Sparkler Hooves and dad… I know you and mom were having… 'Fun'… two weeks back before The Professor fillynapped Princess Celestia. I'm keeping it a secret from Dinky because she's too young to know about that… stuff.]**

After she said this The Professor came back into view and pushed Sparkler out of sight, and moments later reappeared with a struggling Dinky in her hooves. **[Stop squirming will you!]** She yelled as Dinky wriggled around, trying to get free. **[Now say something to your parents so they'll know it's you!]**

**[MOMMY, DADDY HELP ME!]** Dinky cried helplessly.

"Dinky!" Derpy said.

"Don't worry Dinky, mommy and daddy will save you!" He yelled, letting Dinky know that they were there.

A moment later The Professor once more walked out of view, and this time they heard a cage slamming shut in the background. Then she came back, shaking her mane out of her face. **[As you can see, they are not exactly happy about being my hostages, but they are perfectly fine at the moment.]** She said. **[Of course, now that you know they are fine, you have no choice but to help me if you want to see them again safe and sound.]**

"What do you want Professor?" He said furiously, angered at the sight of his filly crying for help and unable to do anything to comfort her.

She pointed with one hoof at the floor, but The Doctor knew that this was her pointing at the communicator itself. **[This device has inscribed on the back, a certain power core's specifications that I require for my own purposes. You are to get this for me, and deliver it to me within one hour to the coordinates specified on the back. I will be at those coordinates at the time, with your two daughters. Bring the power core as I said, and the swap will be easy, fast, and painless. You get your daughters, I get my power core, and we all go home happy. Fail to bring the power core when I'm there however, and we won't all be happy. When I'm not happy, then I'll make sure the cause of my unhappiness pays the price. What that price is, well…]**

She looked to her right and from her back; a mechanical arm extended and pointed a handgun forward.

-BANG-

Dinky screamed in fear and Sparkler screamed as well over the background. **[I believe I've made my point…]** She said smoothly. **[You have one hour Doctor…I suggest you get going…]**

After she said that the signal terminated and he was left staring at a piece of technology that had been reduced to an overweight piece of paper. "She's gone too far Derpy… nopony threatens my family while I'm around!" He said to his wife as he turned the communicator over to see what her demands were.

"What does she want Doctor?" Derpy asked.

The Doctor read out her demands once he understood them. "She wants a sixty trillion metragon power core." He said after he understood the specifications. "What for is beyond me, why does she need such a powerful core? What's her game that she's playing? Is she trying to create some kind of WMD?"

It would be The Professor's goal to destroy him ultimately, after everything he's done to her over their last encounters. If she was still trying to get revenge on him, she would be aiming to cause him as much pain as she possibly could. Wiping out his new favorite planet, one that he now calls home, would be the most painful and direct method.

With a sixty trillion metragon power core, she could power any kind of WMD that her mind could conceive of. He himself could imagine what type of WMD she could use, from instantaneous to long term damage. All she would need was that core, and she'd be set.

"I'll figure out what she's plotting later, right now Derpy we have a power core to get." He said as he took the transmitter and put it in his tool bag for storage.

"But where are we going to get a sixty jigawaty thingy?" She asked, her eyes 'derping' whenever she was very confused about something. "And how are we ganna get it to her in 1 hour?"

"You forget my dear Derpy; we have the answer to both of those questions." He said as he led the way out of the house. "The Tardis travels through time and space, we just need to locate the right power core, and smuggle it out and onto the Tardis. Then we just take it to the right time, and trade it for our daughters."

"All right then!" She said, clearly not understanding half of what he said besides the last part.

As they headed toward the Tardis, The Doctor saw that the Celestia toy was also following them, even with its limp. "Yes Celestia toy?" He asked the toy.

"**With your permission creator… may I join you?"** It asked him. **"I feel… useless now that my only purpose for remaining behind has been fulfilled. Also I would like to have some… repairs done to me?"**

"Alright you can tag along." He said, knowing that the toy was just trying to fulfill its programming.

The Celestia toy model was designed to recite moral values and above all else, advise fillies and foals about difficult problems they are faced with. However this wasn't the case with Dinky's toys, each one of them received an AI upgrade after he repaired them, allowing them more conscious thoughts to be processed. One program however that remained the same was the directive to keep Dinky and Sparkler safe. So with a portion of the Celestia toy's filly protection tools damaged and without a filly to advise or protect, she would request to join her creator and for him fix her.

Once in front of the Tardis he took out his sonic screwdriver and activated it, making the Tardis door open, and allowing them access inside.

He would sort out what and why The Professor needed this powerful core later. Right now however, he had his priorities.

The Galaxy could be damned for all The Doctor cared, he was a father first, a pony second, and a Time Lord third now. First he would save his daughters, than he would save Gaia. After that was done, he would save the galaxy if it was indeed threatened.

The galaxy got along without him for a good while, it can get along without him for a couple more hours.


	7. Chapter 6 - Regeneration

Chapter 6 – Regeneration

=Sparkler's PoV=

The Professor pointed the gun at the wall after merely looking at it, and blinked her eyes before the weapon responded to her silent command.

-BANG-

"I believe I've made my point…" She said after firing the gun and shooting the wall opposite her. "You have one hour Doctor… I suggest you get going…"

Her speech finished, she turned off the communicator and the only other source of light in the room turned off with it, leaving Sparkler and Dinky having the strain their eyes again to see with only the glow rods to help her. Half an hour ago Sparkler was wondering why The Professor had entered the room with that strange device, but after it lit up and revealed a holographic image of their father and mother she realized what her plan B was.

She learned that her plan was to force their dad to get her something to replace the damaged power core. Sparkler wished that she had at least been gentler with treating Dinky, and at least let her walk in front of the communicator, rather than pick her up forcefully and frighten Dinky.

"Why are you doing this?" Sparkler asked calmly. "You know you don't have to abduct us to get our dad to cooperate with you. I'm sure that dad is more than willing to help you if you let him try."

"After all the damage he did and all the trouble I've caused, I doubt he and I would be willing to work together peacefully." She said.

"How do you know he won't help you?"

"Your father and I think very differently about you ponies, that's why I know he won't help me." The Professor said as she cracked some new glow rods to replace the ones they had. "You see, unlike him I don't care about you ponies. You aren't my species and despite how we may look alike, I am a Time Lord through and through. My mental capacities far exceed your entire planet's population combined, and that's because unlike my species yours has chosen to willingly slow down your technological advancements and scientific breakthroughs. You barely have BEGUN to experiment with electricity and make use of steel. By the time your species was born mine had already begun to fly through the stars. When you were just beginning to establish your governments, we Time Lords were traveling through the Time Vortex. Let's not also forget, by the time your 'ruler' was turning 200, my species had become the greatest in the galaxy!"

"There's also the fact that he chose to become one of you, really how the mighty have fallen." The Professor said with a snort. "Really now a Time Lord, choosing to live life as a quadruped? What could have possibly driven him to choose such a pathetic way of life?"

"He doesn't live a pathetic life!" Sparkler replied angrily. "Dad may not live the life of luxury but that doesn't mean the way we live is pathetic! He just doesn't care much for riches or, fancy technical marvels, or all that other stuff!"

"Yes, as you're lovely… home… indicated the last time I was there." She said as she rolled her eyes. "The only thing technical or even remotely advanced is that oven. That and those pointless toys that your 'father' makes, I don't see what the point in making such advanced toys for you ponies. It's not like you all realize what they are really made of."

"They aren't just toys!" Dinky said suddenly.

At this The Professor turned to look at Dinky. "Well tell me then little spawn, what are they?"

"Daddy makes friends, that's what his toys really are, friends!" Dinky replied. "Daddy made friends for me when I didn't have anypony to play with at home, even with sister there!"

"They're friends… you think those contraptions of wood, wire, and energy are your friends?" The Professor snarled. "They are just programmed automatons, designed to give predetermined responses based on the stimuli they react to. They aren't your friends; they are not sentient no matter how well they talk to you. They are nothing but programmed robotic dolls; I can make them just as easily if I wanted to!"

"Well if you say you can why don't you?" Sparkler asked quickly, suddenly getting an idea. "Why don't you do something like what my dad did? I know you're not entirely evil; there is some good inside you. I also know that you can perform miracles just like dad can do, if not miracles than still stuff that nopony can do. So why don't you just as easily make something like the toys my dad made or something else like them?"

"Because I don't have the TIME or the DESIRE to make stupid toys for you pathetic ponies!" She snarled, looking at Sparkler now. "I am a TIME LORD; I have BIGGER priorities than just making stupid little pieces of garbage! One of those is fixing my Tardis!"

"Then what will you do, after you fix your Tardis I mean?" Sparkler shot back, forgetting for a moment that she was talking to an armed mare that was older than Celestia herself. "For an all knowledgeable Time Lord that seems to know everything in the universe, you haven't exactly planned out that little bit it seems. So what happens when dad gets this power core thingy for you, what next? You said so yourself, you've got nothing else, no other goals, dad destroyed all that the last time he was here!"

At these words The Professor seemed to deflate in terms of how she was acting before. When she had been speaking to their father, the revenge obsessed Time Lord didn't seem to care one way or another if Sparkler or Dinky were unharmed or not in front of him. But the moment Sparkler asked those questions, she just seemed to go quiet and her anger seemed to deflate with it.

"I… never thought of… any other goals… after that." She said quietly. "When you… have no other goal besides surviving… for so long… you just get tunnel visioned."

The Professor turned around for a moment before turning to face Sparkler again so she could give her a new glow rod, and she saw in her eyes a feeling that she didn't think she'd ever see in this mare. Not after all the encounters she's had with The Professor.

Loneliness.

"I just have nothing else to live for… the war… your father… they took everything from me…" She said as she cracked the glow rod into life and tossed it to Sparkler. "I had nothing to live for after it happened… then when I learned the truth… I had a purpose, a self-imposed purpose yes… but still a purpose…"

"And now?" Sparkler dared to ask, hoping she wasn't pushing her luck with this sudden mood swing from before.

"Now… now I don't know what to do…" She said, as though she were in a trance. "I tried to kill your father… than his daughter… I failed to complete my research… I've lost all my work…and now I'm losing my Tardis…"

Sparkler could tell that this vessel, no matter how dirty, cold, dark, or depressing it seemed, had enormous importance to The Professor. Despite having no other pony aboard it for hundreds of years, with no help maintaining everything, and above all being forced to travel through the stars with practically nothing, it was the only friend she truly had when all things were considered. It was old, abandoned, and would have been treated as outdated garbage if no other pony bothered with it. Yet she kept it, worked with it, and did all she could to keep it running.

Now that she was on the verge of losing it, Sparkler could tell this was all she had left to live for, saving her Tardis. If she lost her Tardis, she would lose the last tiny strand of sanity keeping her from turning that gun on herself and pulling the trigger.

Thanks to personal experience, she knew that these Tardis' were more than just vessels that traveled through time and space. They were just as alive as she and Dinky were, even if they stayed hidden from their drivers.

After an awkward moment of silence, Sparkler took one more daring act toward their captor. "Let me ask dad to help you, I'm sure if he knew what you were…"

Yet just as she started to suggest that thought, The Professor shook herself out of her daze and once more became their cruel captor. "No, the only one who's going to be asking anything will be me!" She snarled, pointing the gun at Sparkler again. "Now let's get going, we've got half an hour to get to the rendezvous point so we can meet with your parents. Now let's get going!"

"So quickly, but how do you know dad will have…" Sparkler started saying, but as usual The Professor answered her instantly.

"He still has his fully functioning, Time Travel capable, Tardis." She spat. "Now let's get going."

=Mr. TomTom's PoV=

Mr. TomTom and Boopyball followed Mr. Wheely through a strand of bushes into a small clearing. It was a good thing that he as a toy did not feel emotions the same way Celestia and the newest toy model WalkNTalk Luna did. Otherwise as Mr. Wheely closed in on the source of the DNA he had been tracking for the last half hour, again, Mr. TomTom would have been screaming in fury.

**(This substance is not Dinky.)**

**-Vroom Vroom Vroovroovroom!-**

**(Mr. Wheely, we have been going around in circles for the past five hours following you. Your DNA scanners have been constantly locking onto this particular area ever since we discovered it in the night. Each time you say you have her trail, we end up back here.)**

**-Beep boop beeeeeep.-**

**-Vroooooooooom!-**

**(Your DNA scanners are not working properly it seems, perhaps you require repairs that were not reported?)**

**-Vrmmmmmmmm…-**

**(Please attempt to locate Dinky's DNA trail again, but this time refrain from locking onto this particular area again.)**

**-Boop beep boop bop.-**

**(Please explain Boopyball.)**

**-Beeep boop, beep boop bop beep bop beep!-** Boopyball explained. **–Booop beep bop bop beep boop, beep bop beep boop beeeep… beep boop!-**

**(Understood, apologies to Mr. Wheely.)**

Boopyball explained that because Mr. Wheely's DNA tracker was designed to locate the highest concentration of DNA based on whom he was locating, it would naturally automatically lock onto the substance first. Also since his DNA tracker can only track DNA that is not over four hours old accurately; he could not find the small trace amounts of DNA left in Dinky's hoofprints.

So it was not Mr. Wheely's fault that he could only locate this substance currently, it was really a technical problem.

**(Filly/Foal Protection Protocols do not currently dictate what to do in…)**

**(Vroom Vroom!) **Mr. Wheely suddenly declared, the tracker poking out from his back suddenly pointing away from the substance they were standing near.

**(Do you have a positive lock?)**

**(Vrooom!)**

**(Proceed at maximum speed!)**

Instantly Mr. Wheely took off, following the new lock his DNA scanner had detected, heading in the direction they should have been going, but weren't because Mr. Wheely kept on going in circles.

Fifteen minutes later they all took cover in a bush to conceal themselves as they spotted their objective approaching from the opposite direction.

_**(Confirmed, Dinky and Sparkler Located.)**_ Mr. TomTom communicated to the other two as they watched their owner and her sister walk by, The Professor pointing a handheld firing arm at them both. _**(We cannot approach or attempt a rescue at this time, the threat level to Dinky and her sister exceeds our capabilities to negate at this time. We must follow in silent mode until an opportunity arrives to rescue them both from harm.)**_

Both Boopyball and Mr. Wheely agreed, although they did not verbally respond because that would alert The Professor. So they simply followed and waited for their opportunity to arrive.

=The Doctor's PoV=

"QUICKLY DERPY THEY'RE RIGHT ON TOP OF US!" He shouted as a guard's stun beam nearly hit him.

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID THIS WAS GOING TO BE A STEALTHY OPERATION!" She screamed as they turned the corner and ran toward the Tardis, carrying their stolen Power Core. "WHAT PART OF THIS WAS STEALTHY TO BEGIN WITH?!"

"LESS TALKING MORE RUNNING!" He shouted back, pulling his sonic screwdriver out, pointing it at the door and activating it to open said door. "JUMP!"

They both jumped at the same time and slid into the Tardis, just as the door closed behind them and started shaking, indicating that she was taking them back to Gaia in the year 1009 of Celestia's reign. After the ride ended The Doctor stood up and helped his wife up, admiring their successful… semi successful… theft of the necessary power core.

The power core, half their size but somehow weighing their combined weight, was capable of generating at least eighty trillion metragon units of energy, more than enough to meet the demand of The Professor, and secure the release of their daughters.

"Doctor… are you sure it's alright to just take it from those Galorpians Terrorists?" Derpy asked nervously, taking the chance to catch her breath. "They looked really unhappy about us taking this thing from them!"

"Oh they'll be fine Derpy; we just prevented them from using it to power a cruiser that would have been used to attack outpost planets in their system." He said coolly. "As far as I'm concerned, it's a win win situation in my book. We keep terrorists from hurting innocents, and we get to rescue our daughters using this thing. Sure we stole from terrorists, but you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs."

"Well yea, eggs are important; you never break eggs when baking!" Derpy said.

The power core was indeed stolen from a group of terrorists who were planning on attacking their government through attacks on planets that were loyal. However The Doctor used his Tardis to sneak into one of their bases and, after a quick decision, told Derpy they would be stealing the power core as quietly as they could.

Of course while she was all for the plan, Derpy was about as stealthy as a ninja wearing clogs in the middle of a city during the day. The moment they turned a corner she accidentally gave a small sneeze and, low and behold, the facility had extra sensitive noise detectors, immediately setting off the alarms and alerting the terrorists to their presence.

Fortunately his wife's luck for having a magical rump held true during this operation as it always seemed to do. During a small fight between him and one of the terrorist guards, she tripped over a fallen weapon and fell rump first onto his fallen door control device, smashing it and opening the room where the power core was being held until it was time to ship it.

After that they had to transport it as quickly as they could to the Tardis, which was not easy because of how heavy it was, so they both had to carry it while being shot at the entire time. He could have used his mind over matter technique to help but, at the moment, he was not thinking as clearly as he could have. Rescuing his daughters was the only thing on his mind at the moment.

However now that they had the device and were safely quadrillions of light years away from the Galorpian terrorists, he could think clearly and took the time to examine the power core.

"So where do we have to take this thingy?" Derpy asked as she watched him bending over the core and looking at it closely.

"We just have to take it outside; I planted the Tardis right outside where we need to deliver it." He said as he opened the core and found what he was looking for, the central power regulator. "There you are…"

He took out the power regulator and, after placing it inside a small bag that he had strapped to his side, closed the core back up.

"**Creator?" **Came the synthesized voice of Celestia from Dinky's toy as she walked into the main room. **"Is it time yet?"**

Before they went to get the power core, he had gone into his workshop and made some quick repairs to the Celestia toy that had been left behind. This gave him time to plan an operation to both protect his daughters and keep the core from ending up in The Professor's hooves. It all depended however on whether or not the toy could make contact with her fellow toys that had been sent to rescue Dinky and Sparkler.

Yet he wasn't just pinning his hopes on the toy, now that he'd had a good look at the power core, he had come up with an alternate plan to keep the core from being used against Gaia and it's pony population by whatever weapon The Professor had planned.

"Yes it is time little Tia, you do know what to do correct?" He asked.

"**Affirmative."** The toy, now fully repaired stated.

"Good, then let's go and get our family back together again." He declared determinedly. "Derpy help me with this core again; also get the door as you do your closer to it than I am."

"The things parents do for their fillies…" Derpy moaned as she helped him pick up the core with her hooves and used her rear hooves to kick the door open.

"Yup… taking on terrorists, evading death by the skin of our teeth, traveling across thousands of light years in the span of minutes, and stealing power cores capable of powering ships the size of Equestria... just another day in the job of being a parent Derpy!" He declared.

They walked out into the Everfree forest, Derpy leading the way backwards while The Doctor came out last, the power core being carried between them. Meanwhile Dinky's Celestia toy walked out last and quickly ran into the cover of some bushes to hide. Once that was done he and Derpy walked a ways from the Tardis and put the core down onto the grass.

The Doctor looked around for a moment; taking in the details of the area they were to make the trade. The area was a small clearing about the size of their house's backyard, completely surrounded by dense trees and a few small rocks here and there. There were also lots of bushes, perfect to hide small toys the size of Celestia, as evident because he could no longer see the little toy no matter how hard he tried.

"Not much ground between here and The Professor's Tardis if my memory is accurate." He whispered as he waited for The Professor to show up. "It's almost about time for the trade to take place, so she should be here any moment now…"

Sure enough a twig snapped nearby and both he and Derpy turned to see their daughters walk into the clearing, both alright but both under the careful eye of their captor, The Professor. She also had a gun trained on both of them via some mechanical contraption.

"Mommy!" Dinky said, trying to run forward but was held back by The Professor's hoof.

"Don't even think of it you little spawn." She snarled, giving him a glare. "We have to do this right or else somepony's going to be very unhappy. Isn't that right Doctor?"

"You've got that right Professor." He growled, angered at the sight of his two fillies being held hostage. "We have your core; now give us our daughters back!"

"Oh don't worry, I'll give them back to you, but first we lay down the ground rules to make sure this all goes smoothly." She said with a smirk. "First thing's first though, take that power core and put it in the middle of the clearing, now!"

Seeing no other way out, he nodded and with the help of his wife, picked up the power core and put it in the middle of the field.

"Good, now step back twenty paces, and don't try anything funny Doctor… I'm watching you closely!"

He nodded and both he and Derpy walked backward twenty paces, almost all the way back to his Tardis.

"Good… now here's how it's going to go, I'm going to walk toward the power core and your two daughters are going to walk in front of me." She said, looking at Sparkler for only a brief moment. "Once they reach the core they will sit there until I go over the core and see that it's in good condition and everything is in order. Once I'm satisfied I'll let them both go and you can go and live whatever life you want, and I take this power core back to my Tardis! Clear?"

"Yes we are." Derpy said.

"Good… now both of you move!" She said, pointing the gun at Sparkler and Dinky and pointing one of her hooves toward the core. "Slowly…"

=Celestia Toy's PoV=

As soon as the door opened she jumped out into the Everfree Forest and ran to the closest bush to conceal herself. Fortunately her small size made it easy to get through the small branches and leaves of the bush without making any noise. Once she was concealed she immediately sent out the signal to locate and make contact with her fellow toys.

The response was instantaneous.

_**(Celestia toy, what is your status?)**_ Mr. TomTom said through the signal, maintaining auditory silence.

"_**I am with the creator 4.6 meters from your location." **_She said. _**"The creator has given me instructions to rescue Dinky with your assistance. Here is the plan…"**_

In the time span of fifteen seconds she replayed the instructions The Doctor gave her to give to the other toys. Instantly they all knew the plan and once Dinky and Sparkler came into view, they took up positions on opposite sides of the clearing, remaining as quiet as possible to prevent them from being detected.

Once Dinky and Sparkler started moving forward, she and the other toys activated their filly protection tools, and waited for the signal.

Failure was not an option, Dinky's and Sparkler's lives were on the line, they would destroy themselves to ensure that at least the Hooves family got out safely.

It was their mission; protect Dinky from harm at any cost.

As long as no ponies are harmed in the act.

=The Doctor's PoV=

The Doctor watched as they got closer to the core step by step, knowing that a fight would break out in a few seconds. The Professor was not an idiot, all she had to do was take a look inside that power core and she'd instantly know something was wrong.

It was a risk, and normally he would not take it with his family already at risk, but he had to make sure The Professor did not try to make any kind of weapon with this power core. He still had no idea what she could make with it, but the possibilities are endless with a power core capable of outputting that much energy.

It was a risk he had to take, but boy if they all got out of this unharmed, Derpy is going to go ballistic on him when she finds out.

Half a minute of walking and they reached the power core. "Now let's take a look at what you brought…" The Professor said, pointing the gun at Sparkler as she bent close to take a look at the power core. "Not bad… an eighty trillion metragon power core… and it's the perfect size to boot… now let's make sure the inside checks out…"

The Doctor braced himself as she opened up the power core and looked inside.

A split second later she roared in anger, "What is the meaning of this Doctor?"

"SPARKLER, DINKY RUN!" He yelled, and at those words the toys sprang into action.

The next five seconds had so much action The Doctor would have had to slow down time to catch everything. First the Celestia toy jumped out of her bush and shined her two high beam lights into The Professor's eyes, blinding her temporarily and catching her off guard. At the same time Mr. TomTom jumped from a tree branch and fired his sonic handgun, shattering the mechanical arm strapped to her body and knocking the gun to the ground.

Meanwhile Mr. Wheely the HideNSeek toy car rolled from around a set of rocks, hidden from view, and deployed its scoop to pick up the gun and took off toward the Basketball Blimp toy dubbed, Boopyball. Boopyball deployed its net and picked up the toy car and the gun and floated quickly high above them, keeping it out of reach of anypony. All this happened just as Sparkler picked up Dinky and made a dash for the safety of their parents.

However the diversion caused by the Celestia toy only lasted a few precious seconds. Once she recovered she entered mind over matter, just as The Doctor did.

They rushed forward and he barely managed to reach her before she reached his daughters. The fight only lasted a fraction of a second, but for the two of them it was about five minutes of trading blows, before he got the better end of the engagement and pushed her out of the mental state.

The fight ended and he left the mind over matter state and watched as Sparkle and Dinky rushed into the welcoming hooves of their mother Derpy. "Losing your touch aren't you Professor?" He said calmly, watching her slowly get up and glare at him. "The last time we fought you put up a better fight than that."

"You… monster!" She spat angrily. "What did you do with the power core, where is the power regulator to the core? What did you do to it?"

"The power regulator is right here." He said with a smirk and nodding at the bag he was carrying. "I'm sure a Time Lord of your intellect knows that every power core, no matter the model, has a power regulator designed into it. Without that key piece, the core would overload and explode if you tried to use it for anything. I'm also sure you know that you can't just make a regulator from scratch, they're hardwired into each power core, and you can't replace them without scrapping the entire core and putting it back together bolt by bolt!'

"Give me that regulator or I'll kill you and your entire family!" She shouted angrily.

"Sorry Professor but as far as I can see, you have no other weapons with you and you're fresh out of hostages to use as bargaining chips!" He said. "Now that my daughters are safe and sound, and you are unarmed, you've lost the only thing that kept me in line. So now that the ball is in my court, what are you planning Professor? What's your scheme this time?"

"Give me that Power Regulator!" She screamed, and this time she did something very unintelligent when compared to what she normally has done up until now. This also didn't take into account of how low tech she was going when she still had her mind over matter technique.

She surprised The Doctor by grabbing one of the broken limbs on the ground in her mouth and charged him with it, as though it were a spear.

Caught off guard only for a moment, he sidestepped her, tripped her with a hoof, and kicked her with his rear hooves. "Really Professor, I expected some kind of contingency plan from you for this sort of situation." He taunted, thoroughly surprised by how she was acting. "Did you not expect me to try something to rescue my daughters from you, or did you honestly believe I'd play along into your little scheme?"

"GIVE ME THAT REGULATOR!" She screamed desperately, completely ignoring his taunts as she turned and picked up a rock in her mouth this time.

She twisted her head and opened her mouth, using the momentum to throw the rock at him. However it was so poorly aimed that it missed him completely, and he easily tripped her again and delivered another blow to her side with a kickoff his rear hooves.

This time she went down in a heap, and apparently could not get up from what he saw. "How the mighty have fallen Professor…" He said as he waited for her to try and get back up.

She got up once more, slowly and shakily before turning to face him again. There was a desperate look in her eyes, as though she was trying her hardest to gather the strength and will to keep fighting. It was as she took on deep breath and once more yelled, "Give… me… that… REGULATOR!" before grabbing another rock and throwing it at him pathetically and charge at him one final time, did he realize that something was very, very, very wrong with this picture.

She charged and tried to fight him hoof to hoof, but it was clear that her blows were not being fueled by the anger of a revenge obsessed mare, as they had been the previous times. They were much slower, barely aimed to deliver pain, and she kept on trying to knock the bag away from him instead of actually hurting him.

As they fought he also noticed that she was crying, her eyes becoming more bloodshot with each passing second. She seemed to be losing the will to fight, and more focused on trying to knock the bag away from him. As the fight neared its conclusion she was focusing all of her efforts on that bag, as though by some miracle she would somehow land a blow of some kind that would knock it away from him.

In the end however, all it took was him sidestepping her and allowing her momentum to shove herself forward and face first into the ground.

For a few moments there was silence, and then she started sobbing, as though she were a newborn foal that had just got hurt by tripping. "Waaaahahahahaaa…." She sobbed pathetically.

"Professor?" The Doctor asked nervously… wondering what in the name of Gallifrey could have possible triggered such an outbreak.

"Just kill meeeeeheheheee!" She wailed, not bothering to look at him. "J…just… Kill me and end my suffering!"

"Professor… snap out of it!" He said, trying to bring her back to reality.

Yet The Professor continued to sob and sob into the dirt, not listening to a word he said. Finally The Doctor had enough, and walked over and smacked her in the cheek to bring her back. It worked, she stopped sobbing and finally looked up at him in complete disgrace.

"What do you want now…?" She asked pathetically. "What more must you make me endure before you just kill me off? You took my family… my home… my life's work… everything from me! What's left to take from me?"

"Professor, I'm only going to ask this once… why do you want this power core?" He asked sternly. "Is it for some kind of weapon? Something to destroy my new home planet? The only reason I don't let you have the regulator is because I'm making sure you won't just go and make a device to…"

"A WEAPON?" She shouted hysterically. "You think… I have… the capacity… or the capabilities… to make a weapon? You destroyed my Tardis; I can't even make the lights work with what's left inside him. How can I make a weapon to destroy a planet?"

This caught him completely off guard even more than her picking up a rock and throwing it at him. "If you're not making a weapon than why do you need…?"

"To save him…" She whimpered. "To save my Tardis… he needs a new power core to save him at this point… if I don't get a new power core inside him within two hours… he'll lose what little energy I've been able to save and keep stored. Then he'll turn off forever… and I'll never be able to turn him back on ever again."

"To save your Tardis… you mean…" He whispered, before his brain started turning the cogs inside his head again. "Oh… of course… it's an older model… oh you stupid, stupid Doctor… why didn't I see it before."

"Daddy!" Dinky yelled, getting his attention. "You have to help her, she needs help! She just wants to save her friend daddy! She's really scared, like how mommy was when you were in the hospital!"

"Yea dad, she's not a mean pony like I used to think she was." Sparkler said in agreement. "She helped cure Dinky last night of some illness when she didn't have to. She doesn't want to hurt us really; she just needed to make sure you would help her!"

"Please help her daddy?" Dinky asked hopefully. "You always say don't be mad when one of my friends breaks one of my toys. Some ponies don't mean to be mean!"

The Doctor nodded at this and looked down at The Professor, noticing that she had bent her head low in sadness and defeat. Then he took the bag and pulled out the regulator and walked over to the power core and reinstalled it. With that done he closed it up and walked over to The Professor and said kindly, "Come on Professor, get up. If we're going to save your Tardis I'm going to need your help."

At these words she looked up, clearly dumbstruck and looking as though she didn't hear him correctly. "Why… would you help me?" She whispered. "After everything I've done… all the pain I've caused you and your friends and family. All the ponies I've hurt… and the torture and… damage and… everything! Why would you want to help me now?"

"Because I know what it's like to become attached to your Tardis." He said with a smirk. "I also know what it's like when something we love is in danger. I'd risk the galaxy just to save my little Dinky and Sparkler over there, and I know that everything you've done… was done to try and save our species. Now get up Professor, we've got a Tardis to save! You said so yourself, less than two hours to go, you'll need all the help you can get!"

The Professor stared at him for only a brief moment, before she nodded and got on her hooves again. Once she was up, he turned to his family and gave them instructions. "Derpy take Dinky and Sparkler inside, after that fetch us some of the helmet lights I keep in my workshop for emergency blackouts." He told them. "Then I want you to meet us at her Tardis, we won't be too fast carrying this so you should be able to catch up quickly. Sparkler I want you and Dinky to stay inside the Tardis until we come back, alright? No if/and/or/buts, okay?"

"Alright dad." Sparkler said as Derpy went and opened the door.

Right after the door opened Dinky's toys all flooded toward the Tardis from their various hiding positions, having hidden again after the initial fight broke out. Meanwhile he and The Professor picked up the power core and started carrying it toward her Tardis.

It took them twenty minutes to carry the power core to her Tardis, and in that time Derpy had rejoined them wearing three helmets with lights on them. After that they took an absurdly long half hour to get it to the generator room, where the power cores needed to be transferred before she could turn everything back online. Indeed there were no lights, everything was in total darkness. Still once they got to the room they quickly began to work on first separating the old, outdated, hand-me-down power core that The Professor had fashioned centuries ago.

"Alright, now once we pull this thing out we need to replace it quickly or the energy inside the generator will dissipate too quickly." The Professor said as she prepared to pull the core out. "I'll pull this out, and once I do we'll have about one minute before the energy starts to dissipate and leak out. On three… ready?"

"Ready!" He said.

"Ready!" Derpy said, her helmet being worn at an odd angle.

"One… two… THREE!" She shouted as she pulled the old core out and just dumped it onto the floor.

Instantly he and Derpy yanked hard on the new core and, huffing and puffing as they did, installed the new one where the old one had been. The Professor started connecting wires, attaching plugs, and all sorts of stuff that he couldn't see with the speed of one who was drawing upon old knowledge to guide her hooves.

"There… it's in!" She panted as she closed the generator door, and wiped sweat off her face as well as grime from being inside a centuries old engine. "Now to turn on the power… and hope that the sands of time help me."

The Doctor watched as she walked over to a panel… nervously entered a series of commands. The generator entered its shutoff phase, and she waited ten seconds before she punched in the next command, making it enter the power up phase.

In seconds the generator whirled, glowed, and with the roar of a beast that seemed to awaken after a long nap, ready to take on the world and whatever challenges it faced, The Professor's old and beaten, but not dead Tardis, came to life once more!

The lights turned on.

"YES… YESSSSSS HE'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE!" She screamed in joy, rushing to the engine and hugging it with her hooves. "Yes my baby, I told you I'd save you! I promised you I'd save you and I keep my promises!"

The Doctor watched as The Professor turned into a filly before his eyes. She had saved her closest friend in this universe, the one thing she could always depend on, and now that she had saved him she didn't seem to have a care in the world. She hugged, kissed; baby talked, and nuzzled the generator of her Tardis as though it were her first born foal.

The Tardis itself seemed to respond to her every word, it whirled when she stopped talking, flickered light bulbs as they broke and burst off and on into life, and just kept on doing what engines always did.

"Engine output is at peak, power supply is rising from ten percent to twenty… twenty five… thirty…" He said, trying to bring her back into the world of technology, but knowing that she had her reason for being like this.

She stopped talking and calmed down a bit, but still hugged her Tardis engine. "Well… now that my Tardis is back to normal I need to turn on the phase repair systems to restore my vessel." She said smoothly. "I'll have to leave and wait for it to finish before I can do anything more with my ship. Which brings up the question of… what happens to me now…"

"What do you mean?" Derpy asked nervously.

"I have nothing to live for now besides… just living." She said. "Revenge was all I ever wanted… and now that I know I can't just kill your husband…"

The Doctor understood what she was talking about. "Look Professor I know my crimes are worthy of the deepest pits in the underworld, but I did what I had to do to save all of life." He said sadly. "I won't take back what I did; I can never atone for that crime, nothing I do will ever atone for what I did."

The Professor didn't turn to look at him, but she did nod in agreement. "I can't forgive you… but I can't blame you for my family's death…our people would have destroyed themselves even if you hadn't done the job for them…"

After an awkward silence, he raised the big question she was asking herself. "So now what will you do Professor, wander the galaxy like you did before?"

She shook her head. "There's nothing for me out there… so I've got… no plans for the first time in my life." She said sadly. "I have no real home now… I've got no friends to go to… my whole life is… well bundled up inside this Tardis…"

There was a moment of silence in which The Professor looked around the engine room, trying to figure out what to say for the situation. This gave The Doctor time to ask a question he had to ask himself once before when he was confronted with the prospect.

"Why not live here?" He suggested.

"Live here… on this ball of grass… as a pony?" She said in surprise. "Like you?"

"Sure why not?" He said with a smile. "You've got the pony look already, your already half pony now, why not just stick to Gaia as your new home? You said so yourself we have no home anymore, and as you can see there aren't a lot of us Time Lords out here, and the ones that we know of are quadrupeds."

The Professor turned to look away for a moment, before looking at Derpy and then him in turn. "But… I'm not a pony Doctor… how can I just…"

"Let's see… Tail, check… Mane, check… Four hooves check… Cutie Mark on your rump, check. Well Professor it seems you are a pony!" He said cheerfully. "Like you said so yourself, again, we have no home… so it's time we make a new home for ourselves. Gaia is a planet of peace, and above all friendships. If there's ever a planet that we can call home now it's this one, I have and I absolutely love it!"

"Yea… but your different than me… these ponies like you!" She said, pointing at Derpy with one hoof. "They don't like me… even you have a reason to distrust me… I tried to kill your filly in front of you!"

"Believe me I haven't forgotten that, but I'm willing to give you a chance if you're willing to give Gaia and being a pony a chance." He said, taking his wife's hoof and glancing at her. "I can put in a good word to Celestia and Luna; let them know your change of heart. It will take a while… and they won't be one hundred percent trusting of you at first… but eventually they'll trust you as they trust me. Heck, they'll like you better probably. After all you haven't got as high a repair bill for Celestia's palace as I do!"

At these words The Professor gave a tiny laugh. But then her laugh turned to a sudden sense of alarm as she looked down at one of her hooves. Whatever she saw wasn't there when he and Derpy looked down, but it clearly set her on alarm. "Listen… Doctor… may I ask you and your wife one thing…?" She said suddenly. "What… is it like… being a pony I mean… aside from the biological aspects?"

"Well lots of friends for starters, no need for cars or special transports, plenty of work and so on around here." He said, ticking off a few things. "There are the occasional crazy personalities and lots of fun neighbors hammering on your doorstep for some sugar, not to mention the fact that everypony talks about Celesia and Luna. Also weather ponies, you really learn to hate the weather ponies because they dictate the weather conditions for every area in Equestria. Oh and lots of pony themed names for everything! It's a whole lotta fun!"

The Professor smiled as she gave a small laugh. "Also… your filly… she's a Time Lord… you know that right?"

The Doctor nodded, he knew she was a part Time Lord with quite a helping of pony inside of her. "Yea… she is… the next generation of Time Lords, at least for quadruped breed." He said. "We can't help how she was born… but I'm glad to have her nonetheless."

Derpy nodded in agreement.

The Professor gave a short sigh of contentment as she walked away from the engine room. "Doctor, may I ask you a question?"

"Obviously you just did but by all means ask away." He said with a smirk.

The Professor chuckled in response before she grew serious again. "Tell me, why are you being so… merciful to me now?" She asked curiously. "After we've repaired my Tardis and saved it from being destroyed and lost forever, why are you being so nice to me? I figured you'd want me gone from your life as soon as possible, after everything I've done to you over the past few weeks."

"Professor you need to learn one important lesson about being a pony… we don't hold grudges." He said to her with a smile. "You did wrong, but I've done wrong as well. Also you're a Time Lord… we're the last of our kind… we can't go holding grudges against each other and… wanting to kill each other. If we keep doing that we'll end up killing each other eventually, and our species will wind up going extinct… not a good prospect in my eyes. So it's only natural for me to want to make peace with you."

The Professor nodded as she glanced at her hoof once more, but whatever she saw wasn't there when he looked down as well. "Alright, I'll give being a pony a chance… but I have a small favor to ask."

"Name it… as long as it's reasonable." He said.

=Three hours later, Canterlot=

"So how much longer do we have to wait Doctor?" Celestia asked, tapping her hoof on the floor in boredom. "I have a very busy schedule as you know."

"I know Tia, but she wanted to talk to you all as soon as possible." He said. "Shouldn't be too much longer, at most she said her Tardis would need two hours before it would be finished with its repair cycle."

"Are you sure about this change of heart Doctor… I'd hate to find out that she said all of this only to turn your act of kindness into an act of murder against you." Celestia said.

He had taken the Tardis back to the Canterlot Palace an hour ago, much to the surprise of both Celestia and Luna, who were enjoying their midday meal. Unsurprisingly he caught them off guard when he suddenly appeared inside their dining room with his Tardis, breaking half the table and ruining all the food.

Needless to say her chef was NOT pleased about his sudden arrival.

His family was there as well, but for different reasons. After they had returned home he had requested that a new door be fashioned to their home, and it was currently being installed. So rather than bore his family by having them wait at home while their home was having a new door installed, he brought them along for the ride.

They laughed at their father getting yelled at, but Dinky was sad to see that the special pie made for the princesses was ruined.

"Alright, she should be arriving any second now." The Doctor said as the second hour ticked down.

Sure enough, the Vwroooop sound of a Tardis appearing sounded in the throne room.

"That's a big Tardis." Luna commented as the yellow bus faded in and out in front of the throne where Celestia and Luna were sitting. "You never commented on how big it was on the outside sister."

"I didn't think that detail was important Luna." Celestia said. "Although, now that you mention it, it is bigger than The Doctor's Tardis when it comes to the outside."

"Hey!"

The Professor's Tardis finished appearing and a second later, the door opened and The Professor herself stepped out. She looked to be in serious pain as she took a few steps forward toward the throne. Then she did something none of them expected to.

She got down on all hooves, and bowed to Celestia and Luna. "Greetings… Princess Celestia and Princes Luna." She said with a grimace. "Sorry for the… appearance but I wanted to… express my… apologies for all that I've done to you… and your kingdom."

Taken aback, Celestia's response was delayed. "You did quite a bit to my subjects, I have not forgotten." She said. "However, if my friend says you are a changed mare, then I will take his advice and give you the same courtesy that I grant him."

"I thank you for… guuugh… the same…" She tried to say, but she suddenly backed away with a pained expression on her face. "Oh I wish I'd had more time… to apologize… looking like this!"

"Is something wrong?" Luna asked quickly. "Should we call for a medical pony?"

"No… no nothing's wrong… I'm just…" She tried to say, but now the tips of her hooves started glowing. "I'm about… to regenerate."

"You mean…" Celestia said, looking at The Doctor in a questioning way.

"Yep, it's what happens when our bodies are about to die." He said with a slight look of worry. "Although mine were never this painful, I have to say."

**/watch?v=iMos0WTBFTw**

"Well excuse me… this is regeneration number twenty five for me!" She said as the rest of her body besides her face started glowing. "Oh this is going to hurt… it never gets any less painful no matter how many times I go through this!"

She gave one last look at Celestia and Luna before she gave her final words. "Before I go, I just want to say… I'M SORRY!" She yelled just as her head started glowing as well.

The Doctor recognized the TNA becoming visible, it always happened when a Time Lord regenerated. He, his wife, his two daughters, Celestia and Luna all watched as The Professor reared up onto her rear hooves and extended her front hooves outward, completely glowing as though she were on fire. Just as she started to glow even brighter, it seemed that the whether ponies picked JUST that time to make it start storming outside, as clouds suddenly turned darker, and thunder sounded in the distance.

Then with an almighty BANG, her hooves and head all exploded with Time Energy. She screamed in agony as they all shielded themselves from the explosion of TNA.

Just as quickly as it began, it ended. They all opened their eyes and looked at the new Professor, who seemed to be examining her new body.

"Oh look at that, still got hooves, well I guess I'm a pony now through and through!" She said happily as she examined her hoof. "Let's see, slightly lighter shade of chestnut… still got that tattoo on my rump. Yep still got herbivore teeth… and mane color is…"

She whipped her head around to make her mane fall in front of her eyes. "Come on, AGAIN?" She pouted. "How many regenerations do I have to go through before I'm a platinum blond, really, again with the GINGER?"

"How come you get to be ginger?" The Doctor said, looking at her orange mane and tail. "I want to be ginger!"

"Can't understand why, too bright and too red for my liking." She said with a snort as she flung her mane back. "Well in any case, new body, new Professor, time for a new start in my eyes."

"Well Professor, what will you do now?" Celestia asked. "I'm aware of your talents but my ponies aren't exactly ready for technology of your level yet. We are a slow to mature species as you know, at least when it comes to technological advancements. You are more than welcomed to…"

"Oh I've already made plans for my future sun princess." The Professor said with a smirk. "I've heard about a kingdom nearby that neighbors yours, called The Crystal Empire. I'm planning on going there and introducing myself to… I think its Cadence and Shining Armor. I believe they could use a Time Lord of my intellectual capabilities. You have two Time Lords already in your kingdom; don't need three of us running around here. Besides…"

She gave a smirk at The Doctor. "He's already enough of a headache for me, you can deal with him all you want." She said. "Well… this is goodbye for now Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. You as well Doctor, and the rest of his family, I'll see you all again in the future of that you can be certain. After all, someone… I mean… some**pony,** has to keep an eye on you all when he's not looking."

"Oh get out of here!" The Doctor said with a smirk.

So with that, and a wave of her hoof, The Professor entered her Tardis and her and it started leaving.

He smiled as he congratulated himself for saving everypony and his home without causing death and destruction… or at least with a minimal amount of destruction. In the end, he found a way to save The Professor and his way of living without having to sacrifice anypony. Once more… everything seemed perfect.

=Meanwhile, in The Everfree Forest, ?'s PoV, at that exact moment=

…

…

…

"_Oh my dear Doctor… you are weak… getting soft in your comfortable lifestyle are we?"_ He said with a smirk. _"You thought me dead… and that will be your biggest mistake… well let's see how should I act next… what piece shall I move now? I figured she'd kill you… and after all that work I did to lead her to you."_

"_Oh well… the game is afoot my dear Doctor… next time… it will be my move… hahahahaha."_

"_Uh… sir?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_She wishes to see you… with your permission… she means…"_

"_Very well… I'll see her now." _He said as he turned back to the screen, which showed a picture of a smiling Doctor with his family. _"That little mare… is my next… target… hehehaahahha."_


	8. Anasi's Preview

**/watch?v=7gzFjjCWvPE**

*Yawn*

Boy oh boy is it good to be back in my favorite seat here in the Golden Playhouse boys and girls, I missed telling stories long into the night, and boy was this one a doozy.

The Professor, becoming a pony in full, right in front of all our eyes, did any of you expect that outcome?

I hope not, because I did not expect that kind of outcome!

Still, I'm glad that everything worked out in the end… or has it?

Did you all see that last bit at the end? Who do you think that was… hmmm… I wonder…

Oh don't let me spoil the surprise; I'll let you all figure that out on your own.

By the way, did anyone notice that Easter egg the boss put in the story, props to whoever figures out what I'm talking about, no telling anyone though, it's a surprise!

Speaking of surprise… I have a special surprise for all of you good little boys and girls.

That's right *chuckle* it's a preview of our next story.

So before the night ends, and we all head home to our soft beds and even softer pillows… with a friend I hope *chuckle*, gather around one final time and hear a preview, of part one of our next story.

It's titled… DW: The Sengoku Ponies Pt 1

Oh and… the DW… short for Doctor Whooves… yea I know big secret huh?

*Chuckles*

=Preview=

**/watch?v=ialoKcQIDGY**

"Captain Cider, repeat what you just said… exactly as you just said it, one more time please?" Celestia asked her captain of the Unicorn Division of her Royal Guard.

"Yes your majesty, we spotted the individual in the second quadrant of the Merchandise quarter in the city four hours ago." He said, more slowly this time so she wouldn't miss a single word. "He was causing a slight panic with his appearance. One of my guards requested that he please explain who he was, but we couldn't understand a single word he said."

Celestia nodded in understanding, yet something still didn't seem right. "I see, but why would his appearance be so frightening to my subjects, and what could have prompted you to arrest him?" She asked kindly.

"At the time your majesty nothing, but shortly after the encounter your sister, Princess Luna, and her two guards Hawk and Owl happened to be in the same area." He said. "They approached from the opposite direction of the street and the moment he saw them, he suddenly became very hostile. A fight ensued shortly after, and he quickly drew some kind of weapon that we had never seen before. It appeared to be a very long, slightly curved blade."

Celestia nodded, now getting the picture, yet something was still wrong. "I see." She said calmly. "Then can you explain why you could not apprehend this pony without causing harm when it was four against one?"

"We tried your majesty, but the moment he drew this weapon, we instantly had to react to protect Princess Luna." He said. "The pony proved to be more of a threat than we originally thought. Our spears proved to be useless against him, his sword cut the shafts in half before we could subdue him. I quickly raised the alarm and called for more guards, while Hawk and Owl engaged the individual, but even combined they were no match."

"So why did you not try to subdue him with magic?" Celestia asked.

"We tried… but when I tried to use magic, his body seemed to resist its effect." Her captain said. "It was as though he were resistant to it, even Princess Luna's magic proved ineffective."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at this bit of information. As far as she was aware, the only ponies capable of resisting their magic naturally were the two Time Lords, The Doctor and The Professor. However they never bothered to use strange weapons like the strange, elongated, curved spear that was sitting in front of her. Why would they, when they had access to weapons ten times more effective, deadly, and more advanced than this thin piece of metal?

"Where is the pony now?" Celestia asked now.

"In the dungeon, at Luna's request because her guard Owl was badly injured during the fight." Captain Cider said.

"I wish to speak to him then, I'll be heading down to the dungeon." Celestia declared.

She was interested to see if this pony was another Time Lord survivor or something else. Yet mostly, she was interested to see what kind of pony, all alone and wielding nothing but this strange weapon, could not only resist even her sister's magic, but also fight off no less than thirty of her Royal Guards alone. Not only just fight them, but have the capabilities to seriously wound over a dozen of them, even without his weapon.


End file.
